Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 28, 2026

Commodity tick

Futures exchanges establish a minimum amount that the price of a commodity can fluctuate upward or downward. This minimum fluctuation is known as a tick or commodity tick. Hence, a tick is any fluctuation in the price of a security.

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Futures exchanges establish a minimum amount that the price of a commodity can fluctuate upward or downward. This minimum fluctuation (trade increment) is known as a tick or commodity tick. Hence, a tick is any fluctuation in the price of a security.

Each futures contract has a different size, quantity, valuation etc., so each tick size that can be applied to anyone's futures contract, is dependent on the previous variables. Tick size is important as it determines the possible prices available. For example, each "tick" for the grain market (soybeans, corn and wheat) is 0.25 cents per bushel, on one 5,000-bushel futures contract.

Tick values for some popular contracts (as of June 20101)
Futures Product Contract Size Tick Size Tick Value
E-Mini S&P 500 (CME) $50 x index 0.25 $12.50
E-Mini NASDAQ (CME) $20 x index 0.25 $5.00
Australian Dollar A$100,000 0.0001 $10.002
British Pound £62,500 0.0001 $6.25
Canadian Dollar (CME) C$100,000 0.0001 $10.00
Euro FX (CME) €125,000 0.0001 $12.50
Japanese Yen ¥12,500,000 0.000001 $12.50
Mexican Peso MP 500,000 0.000025 $12.50
New Zealand Dollar NZ$100,000 0.0001 $10.00
Swiss Franc SF 125,000 0.0001 $12.50
30 Day Fed Funds $5,000,000 (annualized) 0.00005 $20.835
2 Year Treasury Note $200,000 1/4 of 1/32 $15.625
5 Year Treasury Note $100,000 1/4 of 1/32 $7.8125
10 Year Treasury Note $100,000 1/2 of 1/32 $15.6253
30 Year Treasury Bond $100,000 1/32 $31.25
Gold (CBOT) 100 oz $0.10/oz $10.00
Silver (CBOT) 5,000 oz $0.005/oz $25.004
Silver (COMEX miNY) 1000 oz $0.0125/oz $12.505
E-mini Crude Oil 500 Barrels $0.025 $12.506
E-mini Natural Gas 2,500 million BTU $0.005 $12.507
See also

See also

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