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Contract specifications
- Contract symbol
- NQU8
- Product
- E-mini Nasdaq 100 (NQ)
- Exchange
- CME
- Delivery month
- September 2028 (code U)
- Last trading day
- September 15, 2028
- Default rolls on
- September 7, 2028 (8 days before)
- Tick size
- 0.25
- Tick value
- $5.00
- Point value
- $20.00
- Next delivery
- NQZ8 (December 15, 2028)
When NQU8 stops trading
Trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of the contract month. For NQU8 that falls on September 15, 2028.
Senzoukria stops offering NQU8 as the default contract on September 7, 2028, 8 calendar days before that last trading day, and keeps it selectable with a badge. The date is computed from the exchange rule rather than stored. The engine counts Monday to Friday and holds no CME holiday table, so a date that falls next to a public holiday can be one day off the exchange calendar. Check the exchange calendar when the date sits close to a holiday.
When the volume actually leaves
Equity index liquidity moves to the next quarter in a single week, usually the one that contains the roll date. Order flow read on the old contract after that week is thin and misleading: the book empties, prints get sparse, and a footprint built on it shows gaps that are an artefact of the roll rather than of the auction.
For NQU8 the next listed delivery is NQZ8, whose last trading day is December 15, 2028. That is the contract the volume moves into, just as it moved out of NQM8 on June 8, 2028.
What one tick is worth on NQU8
The minimum price fluctuation is 0.25, which is $5.00 per contract on a multiplier of 20. A full point is therefore $20.00. On a footprint chart one row is one tick, so the same vertical space holds a different number of rows depending on the product: a tick of 0.25 sets how finely the bid and ask volume of NQ can be read.
These are the values the app itself trades on, taken from its contract table rather than retyped, so the P&L shown on a NQU8 position and the rows of its footprint come from the same numbers.
Every NQ delivery listed in 2028
NQ lists 4 delivery months a year (H, M, U, Z). NQU8 is number 3 of 4 in 2028.
| Contract | Delivery | Last trading day | Default rolls on |
|---|---|---|---|
| NQH8 | Mar 2028 | Mar 17, 2028 | Mar 9, 2028 |
| NQM8 | Jun 2028 | Jun 16, 2028 | Jun 8, 2028 |
| NQU8 (this page) | Sep 2028 | Sep 15, 2028 | Sep 7, 2028 |
| NQZ8 | Dec 2028 | Dec 15, 2028 | Dec 7, 2028 |
NQU8 and MNQU8 side by side
NQ and MNQ track the same underlying, but NQ is 10 times the size of MNQ: $5.00 a tick against $0.50. Both quote on the same 0.25 tick. NQU8 and MNQU8 share the same last trading day, September 15, 2028, so a position in either rolls on the same date.
The practical difference is position sizing rather than behaviour. MNQ lets a 10-contract position carry the same exposure as one NQ, which makes partial exits possible on a small account; NQ carries the deeper book, so its footprint and its depth of market are the ones to read even when the position is held in MNQ.
Related pages
- NQ — E-mini Nasdaq-100
- Contract roll
- Futures month codes
- Tick value
- Front month contract
- Quarterly expiry
- AM/PM settlement
- MNQ — Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100
- NQZ8
- NQM8
- NQ 2028
- MNQU8
In the same section
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- When does NQU8 expire?
- The last trading day of NQU8 is September 15, 2028. Trading terminates at 9:30 a.m. ET on the third Friday of the contract month.
- When should I roll out of NQU8?
- The app switches its default to the next listed month on September 7, 2028, which is NQZ8. In practice the volume moves before the calendar does, so compare the traded volume and open interest of the two months rather than waiting for the last trading day.
- How much is one tick of NQU8 worth?
- One tick of 0.25 is $5.00 per contract, and a full point is $20.00, on a multiplier of 20.