How long does a futures contract last?

Perpetual futures are cash-settled, and differ from regular futures in that they lack a pre-specified delivery date, and can thus be held indefinitely without the need to roll over contracts as they approach expiration.

Futures contracts can be traded purely for profit, as long as the trade is closed before expiration. Many futures contracts expire on the third Friday of the month , but contracts do vary so check the contract specifications of any and all contracts before trading them.

Long-term success in futures trading comes from mastering three disciplines . If you are a successful stock trader, you are probably familiar with these rules. First, you need a proven trading process that works for futures trading.

On expiration day, all expired open positions will be settled at a price determined by the exchange , this is known as ‘Settlement Price’. The settlement price will be calculated as the average of the price index every second over the last hour (between 7.00 and 08.00 UTC) before delivery.24 Mar 2021