CME
Nikkei 225 (Dollar) (NKD) Tick Value & Contract Specs
Tick value $25.00 per tick — $5 × the Nikkei 225 Stock Average.
Nikkei 225 (Dollar) futures (NKD) settle a $5 multiplier against Japan's benchmark stock index, and the dollar denomination is the entire point of the contract. A US-based trader who buys NKD takes a position in Japanese equities with no yen exposure attached — the currency risk that normally comes bundled with foreign equity is stripped out at the contract level. The minimum tick is 5 index points, worth $25 per contract, and with the Nikkei near 40,000 a single contract controls roughly $200,000 of notional.
That 5-point tick is coarse compared with the quarter-point increments on the US index contracts, so NKD's ladder moves in visible steps rather than continuously. The contract's real advantage is session coverage: it trades on CME Globex through US hours, which means American traders can react to Japanese news, Bank of Japan decisions and yen moves without waiting for the Tokyo open. CME also lists a yen-denominated Nikkei contract; if you want the currency exposure, that is the one to trade, and confusing the two is the most common mistake here. The calculator below is pre-filled with NKD's dollar specs.
- Exchange
- CME
- Contract size
- $5 × the Nikkei 225 Stock Average
- Tick size
- 5
- Tick value
- $25.00
- 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 varies by broker and is quoted in US dollars, so it carries no yen exposure of its own.
How NKD 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 NKD, that is 5 × $5 = $25.00 per tick, per contract.
One contract represents $5 × the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. P&L for a move from entry to exit is (exit − entry) ÷ tick size × tick value × contracts.
NKD contract months and ticker symbols
A futures ticker is three parts: the root, a one-letter delivery month, and the year. NKDZ2026 is the December 2026 NKD contract. The month letters skip I and L, which would read as 1 and 7 on a ticker.
| Code | Month | Listed for NKD? |
|---|---|---|
| F | January | No |
| G | February | No |
| H | March | Yes — NKDH |
| J | April | No |
| K | May | No |
| M | June | Yes — NKDM |
| N | July | No |
| Q | August | No |
| U | September | Yes — NKDU |
| V | October | No |
| X | November | No |
| Z | December | Yes — NKDZ |
Which NKD 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 |
|---|---|---|
| NKD1! | TradingView | Continuous front-month contract. "2!" is the next one out, and a dated contract is written in full, e.g. NKDZ2026. |
| NKD00 | Barchart | Continuous front-month series. "NKDZ26" style codes name a specific month and year instead. |
| NKDc1 | Refinitiv / Reuters | Continuous front month; c2 is the second month out. |
| /NKD | thinkorswim, tastytrade | The leading slash marks it as a future rather than a stock. A specific month is /NKDZ26. |
| NKD=F | Yahoo Finance | The "=F" suffix denotes the front-month futures series. |
| $NKD | 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 NKDZ26 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 NKD?
- $25.00 per tick — a 5 tick size × a $5 multiplier (point value).
- What is one NKD contract worth?
- One contract represents $5 × the Nikkei 225 Stock Average. Notional value = price × $5; use the tick value calculator with the current price for an exact figure.
- Which exchange lists NKD?
- Nikkei 225 (Dollar) (NKD) trades on the CME.
- What are the trading hours for NKD?
- 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 NKD?
- Margin varies by broker and is quoted in US dollars, so it carries no yen exposure of its own.
- What are the NKD contract months?
- NKD lists March, June, September and December.
- What does NKDZ2026 mean?
- It is one specific NKD contract: the root NKD, the delivery-month code Z, and the year. Z is December, so NKDZ2026 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 NKD00, NKD1! or /NKD?
- All three name the same thing: the continuous front-month NKD contract, written differently by different platforms. Barchart uses NKD00, TradingView NKD1!, thinkorswim and tastytrade /NKD, Yahoo Finance NKD=F, and NKD on social media is usually written $NKD. None of them is a separate instrument — each stitches together whichever dated contract is currently the front month.
- How is P&L calculated for NKD?
- P&L = (exit price − entry price) ÷ 5 tick size × $25.00 tick value × number of contracts. Use the tick value calculator to compute this directly.
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See all futures contract specs or use the futures contract & tick value calculator with any symbol or custom specs.
Specs last reviewed 2026-09-15. Exchanges can amend contract specs — always confirm against the exchange or your broker before trading.