Any UK Futures or Instrument That Reflects the UK Economy?

[FrankTheTank]

Sorry for the NOOB question, but, in the US we have the mini dow, NQ, ES, ER, etc. that are very correlated to the US economy and reflect the major market idexes.

Does the UK (United Kingdom) have any futures contracts or something similar? I am familiar with the Br. Pound contract through CME but I was hoping to find something else.

Thanks!

[Blu-Ray]

	Quote:	FrankTheTank
	Sorry for the NOOB question, but, in the US we have the mini dow, NQ, ES, ER, etc. that are very correlated to the US economy and reflect the major market idexes. Does the UK (United Kingdom) have any futures contracts or something similar? I am familiar with the Br. Pound contract through CME but I was hoping to find something else. Thanks!

Yes, you can trade the FTSE 100 futures for instance, but you do need the EuroNext exchange data, symbol is usually Z.


Hope this helps

Blu-Ray

[FrankTheTank]

Thank you. Do you know if TradeStation offers this? How liquid is the contract?

[forsearch]

Sure, use the FTSE 100 for the UK.

Or CAC40 for France.

Or DAX for German equities. Bund, Bobl or Schatz for German treasuries.

Or DJ EuroStoxx 50 for the EU.

Your broker should have the appropriate symbols for you to use in charting and trading available at their website.

All of the above are very liquid as well.

-fs

[BlowFish]

I have been trading the FTSE recently - its pretty thin at times guess it depends what you are used too. Trades like other thin(ish) index futures.

I noticed some sort of property based index here (UK) I meant to check it out anyone know anything about that? Maybe I dreamt it.

[forsearch]

Here's a look at the recent volume for some of the European futures (indices and treasuries) in the past 24 hours.



This should give you a more accurate idea of liquidity.

-fs

[momentom]

I trade the FTSE but its no longer very correlated to the UK. Many, many foreign stocks make up the FTSE 100

[idaxtrader]

If you really want to trade the economic fundamentals of the u.k. this is a better instrument than the ftse 100
FTSE 250 INDEX FUTURE

Mnemo Y MEP Euronext.liffe London
Unit £
FTSE 250 Index Futures
Unit of trading Contract valued at £10 per index point (eg value £65,000 at 6500.0)
Delivery months March, June, September, December (nearest two available for trading)
Quotation Index points (e.g. 6500.0)
Minimum price movement (tick size and value) 0.5 (£5.00)
Trading hours 08:00 - 17:30

[forsearch]

The FTSE 250 is THINLY traded.

Check the volume vs the FTSE 100, and proceed with caution.

Like only a handful (160 contracts) traded today on the FTSE250 vs over 102,000 for the main FTSE100.

-fs

[idaxtrader]

I think for his purposes the contract is liquid enough. At first glance it seems like this is a fundamental longer term play rather than a day trade scalp. If he's trading in 5 lots or less, I think any electronic contract on a major futures exchange will be o.k. There is almost always someone ready to take the other side of your trade. Trading on a major exchange, the price you see is pretty much what you get. Liquidity problems tend happen more with stocks especially low priced ones. Just my opinion by the way has any one ever traded the MDAX future on Eurex or the AEX future on Euronext. I have always had an interest in these but never got around to looking into them seriously. I really like some of the characteristics of the AEX and the MDAX can trend really well.