Let’s understand what gold futures are in general and where you can trade them. These are forward contracts in which gold serves as the underlying asset. If you’ve decided to start trading gold futures, the first thing you need to do is to open an account with a futures company.

Gold futures contracts usually specify the margin, the delivery month, the minimum price tick, daily limits, and the delivery method. Profit or loss depends on the difference between entry and exit. If you hold the contract until it expires, physical delivery of the gold will be made.

The most well-known contract is New York Gold on COMEX (New York Commodity Exchange). This is the largest and most active gold futures market in the world. On COMEX, both standard contracts (100 ounces of 99.5% pure gold) and mini futures (50 ounces) are traded. The minimum price tick for mini-contracts is $0.25 per ounce.

The New York exchange works as a quote-matching platform—the exchange itself does not take part in trading, but only provides the infrastructure and sets rules to ensure fair execution of trades. Trading runs 23 hours a day, except on weekends. The break from 5:15 to 6:00 a.m. local time is settlement time.

There is also an alternative—the Shanghai Futures Exchange, where you can also trade gold futures. There, one contract is 1 kilogram, and leverage of approximately 7 times is used. Interestingly, trading T+0 and two-way positions are supported—you can trade both during the day and at night. The minimum price tick here is 0.02 yuan per gram, and the initial margin is 8% of the contract value. However, in the event of sharp market fluctuations, these requirements may temporarily increase.

So if you’re interested in gold as an asset, gold futures provide a good way to speculate or hedge risks. The key is to understand the mechanics and the risks before getting started.