Stock Futures
A contract to buy or sell one specific stock at a fixed price on a future expiry date.
Definition
Stock futures (also called single-stock futures) are exchange-traded contracts that obligate the holder to buy or sell a particular underlying stock at a pre-agreed price on a set expiry date. On NSE they trade in standardised lot sizes and settle in cash on the last Thursday of the contract month. Unlike buying the share itself, you only post margin rather than the full contract value.
Why it matters
Stock futures let traders take a leveraged, directional view on a single company without paying the full cash price. They are also used to hedge an existing equity holding and to express short views, since you can sell a future without owning the stock. Because of leverage, both gains and losses are magnified relative to the margin posted, so position sizing matters as much as direction.
Example
Suppose a stock trades at 1,000 and its one-lot future also trades near 1,000 with a lot size of 500 shares. Buying one future gives exposure to 5,00,000 of stock, but you might only block, say, 75,000 as margin. If the stock rises to 1,050, the future gains roughly 25,000 on that 75,000 — a much larger percentage return than holding the cash share, with the same risk working against you on the downside.
See it live
Track futures pricing, basis and open interest alongside the live option chain on TradePulse.