Nasdaq Futures

Nasdaq-100 futures (CME ticker NQ) track the Nasdaq-100 index, which holds the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The contract multiplier is $20 × the Nasdaq-100 index — roughly the same notional size as the S&P 500 E-mini despite NQ's higher price, because the index level is around four times that of the S&P 500.

NQ is the 'tech proxy' of the global market. The Nasdaq-100 is roughly 60% Information Technology by weight and includes nearly every mega-cap US technology name — Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Meta, Tesla. That heavy concentration means NQ moves dramatically in response to AI-cycle news, semiconductor-export controls, US interest-rate expectations, and individual mega-cap earnings.

The Nasdaq-100 index was launched on 31 January 1985 by Nasdaq, eight years after the broader Nasdaq Composite. NQ futures launched on 10 April 1996. The contract has been continuously CME-listed since and has expanded from a niche tech-trader product to the second-most-liquid equity-index future after ES.

Standard CME Globex schedule applies (IST):

NQ is the most volatile of the three big US index futures. A 1% intraday move in ES is meaningful; a 1% move in NQ is normal. When reading the Liveworldmarket tape, compare the NQ % to the ES % — an NQ that's down 0.5% with ES flat usually signals tech-specific weakness, while NQ down 0.5% with ES down 0.4% indicates a broad risk-off move.

Earnings sensitivity: NQ has by far the most concentrated single-stock exposure of the major US index futures. The top 5 holdings together exceed 35% of the index. That means a Nvidia or Apple earnings beat / miss after the cash close can swing NQ by 1–2% in extended-hours trading, with the move surviving into the next session.