CME
Micro E-mini Russell 2000 (M2K) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $0.50 per tick — $5 × the Russell 2000 index.
The Micro E-mini Russell 2000 (M2K) puts small-cap exposure within reach of any account: $5 per index point, one-tenth of RTY's $50. The tick is 0.10 index points, so each tick is worth $0.50 and ten ticks make a point. With the Russell 2000 near 2,000, a single contract represents about $10,000 of notional — the smallest of the CME equity micros, and roughly half the exposure of an MYM contract at current index levels.
That small unit is the point. The Russell 2000 holds two thousand small-cap constituents whose fortunes hinge on domestic US demand, credit conditions and refinancing costs rather than global mega-cap earnings. It is a genuinely different exposure from the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq-100, and it tends to turn first when risk appetite shifts. Traders who want that signal in a portfolio, but not at $50 a point, size it with M2K.
The arithmetic worth double-checking is the tick-to-point conversion. A 5-point stop on M2K is 50 ticks, or $25 per contract — small enough that traders routinely underestimate how many contracts a given risk budget allows, and then carry far more small-cap beta than they intended. Run your entry, stop and contract count through the calculator below before sizing.
- Exchange
- CME
- Contract size
- $5 × the Russell 2000 index
- Tick size
- 0.1
- Tick value
- $0.50
- Point value (multiplier)
- $5
- Trading hours
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET
- Margin
- Margin is roughly one-tenth of full-size RTY and varies by broker — small-cap volatility can push maintenance margin above the other equity micros.
How M2K tick value works
Tick value is the dollar amount one futures contract gains or loses when the price moves one minimum increment (one tick).
tick value = tick size × multiplier. For M2K, that is 0.1 × $5 = $0.50 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents $5 × the Russell 2000 index. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
M2K contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. M2KZ2026 is the December 2026 M2K contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for M2K? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | No |
| G | February | No |
| H | March | Yes — M2KH |
| J | April | No |
| K | May | No |
| M | June | Yes — M2KM |
| N | July | No |
| Q | August | No |
| U | September | Yes — M2KU |
| V | October | No |
| X | November | No |
| Z | December | Yes — M2KZ |
Which M2K contract am I looking at?
Most charts default to the continuous front-month series rather than a dated contract — one stitched-together chart that rolls to the next month as the current one nears expiry. Every platform spells it differently, which is why the same contract appears under so many names.
| Written as | Platform | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| M2K1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. M2KZ2026. |
| M2K00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "M2KZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| M2Kc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /M2K | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /M2KZ26. |
| M2K=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $M2K | StockTwits, social | A cashtag, not an exchange symbol. It usually means the front month, but it is informal and ambiguous. |
A dated code such as M2KZ26 always means one specific contract; the continuous forms never do. Check which you are quoting before comparing a price to someone else’s — around a roll they differ.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the tick value for M2K?
- $0.50 per tick — a 0.1 tick size × a $5 multiplier (point value).
- What is one M2K contract worth?
- One contract represents $5 × the Russell 2000 index. Notional value = price × $5; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists M2K?
- Micro E-mini Russell 2000 (M2K) trades on the CME.
- What are the trading hours for M2K?
- Sun–Fri 6:00pm–5:00pm ET, with a daily trading halt 4:15pm–4:30pm ET.
- How much margin do I need to trade M2K?
- Margin is roughly one-tenth of full-size RTY and varies by broker — small-cap volatility can push maintenance margin above the other equity micros.
- What are the M2K contract months?
- M2K lists March, June, September and December.
- What does M2KZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific M2K contract: the root M2K, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so M2KZ2026 is the December 2026 contract. The codes run F G H J K M N Q U V X Z for January through December — I and L are skipped because they read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
- What is M2K00, M2K1! or /M2K?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month M2K contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses M2K00, TradingView M2K1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /M2K, Yahoo Finance M2K=F, and M2K on social media is usually written $M2K. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for M2K?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 0.1 tick size × $0.50 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
More futures contract specs
- RTY — E-mini Russell 2000Tick value $5.00 · CME
- NKD — Nikkei 225 (Dollar)Tick value $25.00 · CME
- ES — E-mini S&P 500Tick value $12.50 · CME
- MES — Micro E-mini S&P 500Tick value $1.25 · CME
See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-06. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.