Futures · derivatives markets

Futures Data

Real-time market data for futures trading, analysis and backtesting. Whether DAX, Nasdaq, commodity or interest-rate futures – sound decisions are based on precise, up-to-date data.

From real-time prices and tick data to historical price series: the basis for market analysis, order flow, backtesting and automated strategies.

Eurex · CME · CBOT Real-time · tick · history For order flow & algo
Definition

What is futures data?

Futures data comprises all price and trading information for futures contracts. It is generated continuously during trading on the derivatives exchanges.

This includes

  • Real-time prices
  • Tick data
  • Trading volume
  • Bid and ask prices
  • Order book data
  • historical price data
Basics

What are futures?

Futures are standardised forward contracts: they oblige buyer and seller to trade an underlying at a set time and price. Today they are used mainly for speculation, hedging and portfolio management.

Equity indices Commodities Currencies Interest rates Bonds Energy
Importance

Why is futures data so important?

Futures markets are among the most liquid in the world – even small moves can significantly affect decisions. The more precise the data, the sounder the trading.

Professionals need

  • current prices
  • high data quality
  • minimal delay
  • reliable data feeds
Datentypen

What types of futures data are there?

Different data types are needed depending on the application.

Real-time

Real-time data

Current prices without relevant delay – for day trading, scalping, intraday trading and market monitoring.

Tick

Tick data

Every single price move with timestamp, price, volume, bid and ask – for especially detailed analysis.

Historical

Historical futures data

For backtesting, research, strategy development and market analysis – the longer the history, the more meaningful.

Order book

Order book data

Current market depth – liquidity, buy and sell interest, price levels. Especially for order-flow traders.

Popular contracts

Which futures markets are most in demand?

Futures are traded on almost all major asset classes.

Index

Index futures

  • DAX & Mini-DAX
  • Euro STOXX 50
  • E-Mini S&P 500
  • E-Mini Nasdaq 100
  • Dow Jones
Commodities

Commodity futures

  • Gold · silver · copper
  • Crude oil · natural gas
  • Wheat · corn
Interest rates

Rate & bond futures

  • Euro Bund Futures
  • Euro Bobl Futures
  • US Treasury Futures
Currencies

Currency futures

  • Euro FX
  • British Pound
  • Japanese Yen
  • Swiss Franc
Derivatives exchanges

Which exchanges provide futures data?

Eurex

Eurex

Europe’s largest derivatives exchange – DAX, Bund and STOXX futures.

CME Group

CME Group

The world’s largest futures exchange – E-Mini S&P 500, Nasdaq, commodities, rate products.

CBOT

CBOT

Specialised in agricultural commodities and rate products.

NYMEX

NYMEX

Known for oil, natural gas and energy products.

COMEX

COMEX

Focused on gold, silver and precious metals.

Applications

What futures data is used for

Daytrading

Day trading

High liquidity, tight spreads, long trading hours – current real-time data is especially important here. A few seconds of delay significantly affect the entry.

Orderflow

Order-flow trading

Analysing actual market activity with tick data, bid-ask, volume and market depth – deep insight into supply and demand.

Backtesting

Backtesting

Simulating historical decisions, risk analysis, strategy optimisation and performance evaluation – the higher the data quality, the more realistic.

Algo

Algorithmic trading

The basis for trend-following, arbitrage, mean reversion, momentum and risk models.

Choosing data

Real-time data or end-of-day?

Different data types apply depending on your trading style.

Real-time data

  • Day traders
  • Scalper
  • active futures traders

End-of-day data

  • long-term analysis
  • market monitoring
  • research purposes
Quality criteria

What to look for in futures data

Not every data feed offers the same quality.

Low latency

With futures, milliseconds often matter – a tick-accurate feed with minimal delay is a must for intraday trading.

Contract continuity

Contracts cleanly chained across rollover dates (continuous contracts) prevent gaps in backtests.

Back-adjusted history

Roll transitions should be correctly back-adjusted, otherwise roll gaps distort long-term results.

Tick & market depth

For order flow, not only trades count but bid/ask at each price level in the order book.

Exchange coverage

Eurex, CME, CBOT, NYMEX and COMEX – depending on the contracts you trade, in one feed.

Common mistakes

Typical futures data mistakes

Many traders underestimate the importance of data quality – which significantly reduces the validity of strategies and analyses.

  • ignoring rollover dates in the backtest
  • chaining non-back-adjusted contracts
  • using delayed prices in intraday futures trading
  • ignoring market depth for order flow
  • overlooking contract specs (tick value, trading hours)
Software

Which software uses futures data

Professional futures data can be used with various platforms:

TAI-PAN Realtime NinjaTrader ATAS MultiCharts Sierra Chart
Target group

Who futures data is for

The more actively you trade, the more important current, high-quality market data becomes.

Day traders Futures traders Scalper Order-flow traders Quantitative analysts Asset managers Research
At a glance

Benefits of professional futures data

  • tick-accurate real-time prices from the derivatives exchanges
  • back-adjusted contract histories for backtests
  • market depth for order-flow analysis
  • Eurex and CME coverage
  • integration with NinjaTrader, ATAS & co.
  • foundation for automated futures systems
  • precise analysis of supply and demand
FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is futures data?

Futures data comprises all price and trading information for futures contracts – real-time prices, tick data, volume, bid/ask, order book and historical price series.

What are continuous contracts?

Continuous contracts are price series chained across rollover dates. Back-adjusted versions correct price jumps at the contract switch for clean backtests.

Which derivatives exchanges are covered?

Eurex (DAX, Bund), CME Group (E-Mini S&P 500, Nasdaq), CBOT (agriculture, rates), NYMEX (oil, natural gas) and COMEX (gold, silver).

Why do order-flow traders need futures data?

Order-flow trading is based on analysing actual market activity – this requires tick data, bid/ask and market depth, which futures markets deliver particularly transparently.

Conclusion

The foundation for professional futures trading

Whether DAX and Bund futures on Eurex or E-mini contracts on the CME – only tick-accurate data that stays clean across rollovers makes futures strategies reliably analysable.

Anyone actively trading futures or developing automated systems should ensure low latency, correct contract histories and market depth for order flow.

KI-Support: This article was created with AI assistance and editorially reviewed.
Risk warning: Futures, shares and foreign exchange trading involve considerable risk and are not suitable for every investor. An investor could lose all or more than the capital invested. Risk capital is money that can be lost without jeopardizing financial security or lifestyle. Only risk capital should be used for trading and only those with sufficient risk capital should consider trading. Past performance is not necessarily an indicator of future results.