Futures Trading

The Futures API lets you trade futures contracts on both US and HK exchanges, covering indices, interest rates, currencies, agriculture, metals, energies, and crypto.

Prerequisites

• A futures-enabled account (enable via the Webull App if not already activated)
• Sufficient margin in your account

Supported Markets

Market	Category Value	Exchanges
US Futures	US_FUTURES	CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX, CBOE
HK Futures	HK_FUTURES	HKEX

All futures endpoints accept a category parameter to specify the market. Use US_FUTURES for US-listed contracts and HK_FUTURES for HKEX-listed contracts.

Contract Codes

Futures contracts use a standardized naming convention: product code + month letter + year digit.

For example:

• ESZ5 = E-mini S&P 500, December 2025 (US)
• HSIZ5 = Hang Seng Index, December 2025 (HK)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
F	G	H	J	K	M	N	Q	U	V	X	Z

Discovering Contracts

Use the following endpoints to retrieve available products and contracts:

Endpoint	Description
Futures Products	List all futures product codes and names
Futures Products Class	List all futures product classification groups
Futures Instrument List	Query instrument details by symbol(s) or product code
Futures Instrument By Code	Query tradable contracts by product code and contract type

Each instrument response includes key contract details such as contract_month, settlement_date, size (multiplier), min_tick, first_notice_date, last_trading_date, settlement method (Cash or Physical), and contract_type (MONTHLY or MAIN).

Supported Order Types

Order Type	Description
MARKET	Execute immediately at the best available price
LIMIT	Execute at the specified price or better
STOP_LOSS	Trigger a market order when the stop price is reached
STOP_LOSS_LIMIT	Trigger a limit order when the stop price is reached

Time in Force

Value	Description
DAY	Valid for the current trading session only
GTC	Good till cancelled

tip

Combo orders (OTO, OTOCO, OCO) are not supported for futures trading at this time.

Trading Hours

Futures markets operate on extended schedules that vary by exchange and product:

• US Futures — Open virtually 24 hours a day, 6 days a week (Sunday evening to Friday afternoon ET). Each product has its own specific trading hours and maintenance windows.
• HK Futures — HKEX derivatives trade during the day session (9:15 AM – 12:00 PM, 1:00 PM – 4:30 PM HKT) and the after-hours session (5:15 PM – 3:00 AM HKT next day). Exact hours vary by product.

Check the exchange specifications for the exact schedule of the contract you're trading.

Margin

Margin Type	Description
Initial Margin	Cash required to open a position (typically 3–12% of contract value)
Maintenance Margin	Minimum equity required to keep a position open

caution

If your equity falls below the maintenance margin, you will receive a margin call. You must deposit funds to restore the initial margin level, or your position may be liquidated.

Settlement & Expiry

• Most traders close positions before expiration to avoid physical delivery
• Physical delivery is not permitted through Webull — you must close or roll your position before expiration
• If a position is not closed by expiration, Webull will attempt to liquidate the position on your behalf. Failure to close before expiration may result in forced liquidation or additional fees

caution

Webull does not support physical delivery of the underlying commodity. Always close or roll your futures positions before the contract expiration date to avoid forced liquidation.

Request Examples

US Futures

Buy 1 E-mini S&P 500 December 2025 contract at a limit price of 4500.

{
  "account_id": "<your_account_id>",
  "new_orders": [
    {
      "combo_type": "NORMAL",
      "client_order_id": "<unique_id>",
      "symbol": "ESZ5",
      "instrument_type": "FUTURES",
      "market": "US",
      "order_type": "LIMIT",
      "limit_price": "4500",
      "quantity": "1",
      "side": "BUY",
      "time_in_force": "DAY",
      "entrust_type": "QTY"
    }
  ]
}

HK Futures

Buy 1 Hang Seng Index December 2025 contract at a limit price of 20000.

{
  "account_id": "<your_account_id>",
  "new_orders": [
    {
      "combo_type": "NORMAL",
      "client_order_id": "<unique_id>",
      "symbol": "HSIZ5",
      "instrument_type": "FUTURES",
      "market": "HK",
      "order_type": "LIMIT",
      "limit_price": "20000",
      "quantity": "1",
      "side": "BUY",
      "time_in_force": "DAY",
      "entrust_type": "QTY"
    }
  ]
}

Futures Market Data

Futures market data is available for both US and HK contracts via the Market Data API. The following endpoints support the HK_FUTURES category:

Endpoint	Description
Tick	Tick-by-tick trade data (price, volume, direction)
Snapshot	Real-time snapshot including price, change, volume, open interest, bid/ask
Footprint	Aggressive buy/sell volume breakdown by price level
Depth of Book	Level-2 bid/ask order book (up to 10 levels)
Historical Bars	OHLCV candlestick bars at various time granularities

tip

Access to futures market data via OpenAPI requires a paid subscription. For details on how to subscribe, see Subscribe Advanced Quotes.

Fees

For the current fee schedule, see Webull HK Pricing.

What's Next

• Stock Trading — Stock and ETF order management
• Options — Options trading
• Trading API Overview — Full feature matrix