Trade at settlement (TAS)
Trade at settlement (TAS) lets a participant trade during the session at the day's settlement price, not yet known, or at a small number of ticks above or below it. The order is matched in a separate TAS instrument quoted in tick offsets, and its final price is filled in once the settlement price is published.
Senzoukria · Glossary · Updated September 2026
Definition
CME describes TAS orders as executed at the current day's settlement price for the standard contract, or at a valid price increment above or below it. TAS products are listed as distinct instruments designated TAS in their name. The allowed range of offsets is set per product by the exchange's rule on TAS (CME Rule 524 and its advisory notice).
How a TAS price works
A TAS order is priced as an offset: 0 means exactly the settlement price, +1 one tick above it, -2 two ticks below. The trade is agreed during the day; its price in contract terms is only known after settlement.
Worked example: a trader buys one ES TAS at +1. The day's settlement comes out at 5,000.25, so the fill is 5,000.25 + 0.25 = 5,000.50. Had the trader bought at 0, the fill would be 5,000.25; at -1, 5,000.00.
Who uses it and why
- Funds and hedgers whose benchmarks use the settlement price, who want to remove the risk of executing at a different price.
- Rolls executed at settlement to match an index or a mandate.
- Participants who prefer to agree size during the day and price at the official close.
What it means for an order flow chart
Because TAS trades are matched in their own instrument and book, a footprint built on the outright contract shows the outright executions only. Size agreed in TAS during the day does not appear there as it trades; its effect, if any, shows through participants who hedge or offset it in the outright market, especially around the settlement window.
In Senzoukria
The contract catalogue lists outright contracts only; TAS instruments are not in the symbol picker, and the application computes no settlement price from which a TAS fill could be derived.
Common mistakes
- Reading a TAS offset such as +1 as a price.
- Assuming every futures product has TAS or allows the same offset range.
Related
In the same section
Sources
This page in other languages
Frequently asked questions
- Is a TAS order a market-on-close order?
- It is similar in intent, execution at the official end-of-day price, but it trades during the session in a separate instrument and can be priced a few ticks away from settlement. The settlement price itself comes from the exchange's procedure, not from a closing auction.
- Can TAS trades move the settlement price?
- Not directly, since they are priced off it. Participants who hedge TAS positions in the outright market during the settlement window do trade the price the settlement is computed from.