Micro E-mini equity index futures and options accounted for 54% of CME Group’s total Equity Index average daily volume in July, making smaller-sized products the largest reported component of the exchange’s equity-index business.
CME also reported its highest July ADV on record, with overall trading rising 23% year-on-year to 27 million contracts.
Nasdaq Micro Futures Lead Growth Equity Index
ADV reached 8.2 million contracts during the month, up 48% from July 2025. Within that total, Micro E-mini equity index futures and options generated ADV of 4.4 million contracts, moving smaller-sized products from a satellite category into the centre of CME’s equity-index activity.
The strongest growth came in Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures, where ADV rose 159% year-on-year to 3 million contracts. Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures increased 27% to 1.1 million contracts.
By comparison, E-mini S&P 500 futures ADV rose 24% to 1.4 million contracts, while E-mini S&P 500 options ADV increased 8% to 1.1 million contracts.
- CME Shrinks Equity Futures Again as Record Indices Raise Entry Costs
- CME Tests Institutional Demand for Sports Index Derivatives
- "Always Up for a Good Battle": CME Takes Aim at CFTC in High-Stakes Lawsuit Over Perps
E-nano Adds Another Smaller Tier
The July figures add context to CME’s recent plan to introduce E-nano equity index futures on 24 August, pending regulatory review.
The new contracts will cover the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, extending CME’s equity-index product ladder from E-mini contracts to Micro E-minis and now E-nanos.
CME said the E-nano contracts will be one-tenth the size of Micro E-mini futures, or one-hundredth the size of the corresponding E-mini.
In announcing the launch, the exchange said record equity-market levels had increased the notional exposure of existing futures and created demand for more precise position sizing. The products are expected to trade nearly 23 hours a day.
Outside equity indices, Interest Rate ADV rose 17% to 12.6 million contracts, supported by a 22% increase in US Treasury futures and options to 7 million. Energy and Agricultural ADV also increased, rising 9% and 15%, respectively.
The July statistics give CME’s smaller-contract strategy a live trading benchmark before the E-nano launch, adding current volume evidence to a product ladder that now runs from E-mini to Micro E-mini and E-nano futures.
