A gold futures contract is a standardised agreement, traded on an exchange, to buy or sell a set amount of gold at a price agreed today for a later month. The benchmark is COMEX gold (GC), 100 troy ounces per contract, with a 10-ounce Micro Gold version. Below: the margin gold futures need, how it went from 5% to 9% to 7% in 2026, what happens at expiry, and when a spot gold CFD is simpler.
TL;DR: Gold futures are exchange contracts with a fixed size and an expiry month. One COMEX GC contract is 100 troy ounces, so a $1 move in gold is worth $100. Micro Gold (MGC) is 10 ounces, or $10 per $1 move. Since 13 January 2026, CME sets gold margin as a percentage of contract value: 5% at first, 9% after 6 February, then 7% after 6 March. Read today’s rate on CME’s site before you trade. For gold price exposure with no contract month, a spot gold CFD (XAU/USD) is the alternative.
Many guides still quote margin as a fixed dollar amount per contract. Those figures went stale in January 2026, when CME stopped setting gold margin in dollars. The World Gold Council’s Gold Demand Trends Q3 2026 puts the LBMA gold price average at US$4,262 an ounce in the third quarter. That was 23% higher than a year earlier, so each contract is worth more.
What a gold futures contract is and who uses it
A futures contract fixes the price today for a trade that settles later. The exchange sets everything except the price: the amount of gold, its purity, the delivery months and the last trading day. Because every contract is identical, buyers and sellers can trade them all day without negotiating terms. A clearing house stands between the two sides and asks both for a deposit, called margin.
COMEX, part of CME Group, is the main venue. CME’s gold fact card (via Internet Archive, 2013 snapshot) names the users. “Market participants include mining companies, refineries, banks, hedge funds and CTAs, proprietary trading firms, and active individual traders”. The World Gold Council tracks gold trading volumes across the OTC, futures and ETF markets.
A mine can sell futures to lock in a price for gold it will produce. A fund or an active trader can buy or sell them to take a view on price without moving metal.
GC, Micro Gold and the London daily contract compared
The contract size decides how much money each price move is worth. CME’s fact card gives GC a “Contract Size 100 troy ounces” and a minimum price step (a tick) of $0.10 per ounce, so one tick on GC is worth $10. Micro Gold (MGC, called E-micro Gold on the 2013 card) is 10 troy ounces with the same $0.10 tick, worth $1 per contract.
London has its own contract. ICE lists Gold Daily Futures as “A physically settled daily futures contract for gold delivered loco London in unallocated vault accounts”, also 100 fine troy ounces.
| Feature | COMEX Gold (GC) | Micro Gold (MGC) | ICE Gold Daily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 100 troy ounces | 10 troy ounces | 100 fine troy ounces |
| Value of a $1 move | $100 | $10 | $100 |
| Trading ends | Third last business day of the delivery month | Same as GC | Noon London time, the day before the contract date |
On the micro contract every number scales down by ten. These specs come from a 2013 copy of CME’s card, so confirm them on CME’s own site before you trade.
How futures margin works and what changed in 2026
Futures margin is a deposit, not a fee. A Reuters report carried by Kitco puts it plainly: “Margins represent the deposits made by investors in futures markets to cover the risk of default.” There are two levels. Initial margin is what you post to open a position. Maintenance margin is the floor your account must stay above. If losses take you below it, you get a margin call: a demand to add money, or the position is closed.
On 12 January 2026, CME still set gold margin as a fixed dollar amount: $24,000 per GC contract for regular accounts. Then CME Clearing advisory chadv26-019 (via Internet Archive) changed the method. It said: “CME will be setting margins for Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium based on a percentage of notional.” Notional means the full value of the contract, ounces times price. The new rates took effect after the close on 13 January 2026. The percentage then moved fast:
- 13 January 2026: 5% initial and maintenance for regular accounts, and 5.5% initial for accounts CME classes as heightened risk profile (HRP).
- 2 February 2026: Bloomberg News, via MINING.COM, had reported that margins “will rise to 8% of the value of the underlying contract from the current 6%”, from that day’s close. HRP margins went to 8.8%.
- 6 February 2026: Reuters, via Kitco, reported that “Both initial and maintenance margins for COMEX 100 Gold Futures have been increased to 9% from 8%”, effective after the close that day.
So margin rose from 5% to 9% of contract value in under four weeks. CME cut it to 7% after the close on 6 March 2026 (advisory chadv26-095). Rates move with volatility, so treat these as history. Read today’s gold rate on CME’s margin (performance bond) page before you trade.
A percentage margin also scales with price: when gold rises, the same rate covers more dollars. Leverage is the ratio between a position’s value and the deposit behind it, so a 9% margin is roughly 11:1 leverage. Our guide to leverage in gold trading explains margin calls in more depth.
Expiry, delivery and rolling a position
Every futures contract has an end date. CME’s card states that “Trading terminates on the third last business day of the delivery month”. GC has “Settlement Type Physical”, and “Gold delivered under this contract shall assay to a minimum of 995 fineness.”
Most positions are closed or rolled before delivery, because most users want price exposure, not a bar in a vault. Rolling means closing the expiring month and opening a later one. A position left open into delivery brings an obligation to deliver or take delivery.
The roll has a price. The World Gold Council’s gold futures curves page (data as of 9 November 2026) explains the pattern. “When the futures curve is upward sloping (futures prices are higher than spot), which is typical for gold, it is said to be in contango, which generally reflects the cost of carry.” Cost of carry is the financing and storage cost of holding gold until delivery. A long position rolled in contango closes the cheaper near month and buys the dearer later one, so it pays that carry over time. A spot CFD carries a similar cost in another form, an overnight amount.
Gold futures or a spot gold CFD: which fits you
A CFD (contract for difference) settles the change in an asset’s price between opening and closing a trade. On Volity, spot gold trades as a CFD on XAU/USD and XAU/EUR, long or short, from the same account that holds forex, indices, commodities and crypto. There is no contract month to roll and no delivery. Our explainer on what XAU means covers the symbol.
| Point | Gold futures (GC, MGC) | Spot gold CFD on Volity |
|---|---|---|
| Expiry | Contract months; roll or deliver | No contract month |
| Margin | Set by the exchange as a percentage of contract value | Leverage up to 1:500 on metals |
| Holding cost | Contango built into later months | Overnight amount past 22:00 GMT, paid or received |
| Hours | Exchange session hours | Gold trades 24/7 |
| Spread | Bid and ask on the exchange order book | Dynamic, shown live on the platform |
Regulators set their own limits for retail clients. ESMA’s 2018 CFD measures set “20:1 for non-major currency pairs, gold and major indices”. The FCA’s policy statement PS19/18 asks for margin of 5% of the exposure on gold, the same 20:1. ASIC’s 2020 order applies 20:1 to gold CFDs in Australia. These are regulator rules for those places.
On Volity, metals trade with leverage up to 1:500. High leverage magnifies losses as much as gains, so size each trade from the loss you accept at your stop. Spreads are dynamic, and positions held past 22:00 GMT may pay or receive an overnight amount shown on the platform. Our guide to gold spreads and trading costs explains each charge, and the full schedule sits on the Volity charges and fees page.
Futures fit you if you want an exchange-cleared contract or may need physical delivery. A spot CFD fits you if you want gold price exposure, long or short, without contract months. To own metal outright, read our comparison of physical gold and gold ETFs.
Working out what one contract moves
Before you trade a contract, put numbers on it. Take a hypothetical gold price of $4,000 an ounce, chosen to keep the sums simple (it is not a quote). One GC contract then has a notional value of 100 x $4,000 = $400,000, and one MGC contract $40,000. If gold rises $50, a long GC position gains $5,000 and a long MGC position gains $500. If gold falls $50, the same positions lose $5,000 and $500.
Margin is a percentage of that notional, so losses reach the full deposit quickly. At the 9% rate that applied after 6 February 2026, a 9% fall in gold would have used up the whole initial margin. Initial and maintenance margins were both 9% then, so any loss took an account holding only the minimum below maintenance. Run this routine before every trade:
- Pick the contract that fits your account: GC (100 ounces) or MGC (10 ounces).
- Note the contract month and its last trading day, and put the roll date in your calendar.
- Read today’s initial and maintenance margin on CME’s site.
- Work out the notional value: ounces times the current price.
- Multiply the notional by the margin rate to see the deposit, then keep spare cash above it.
- Decide the loss you accept in dollars, and the price where you will close the trade.
Reading the Commitments of Traders report for gold
The CFTC, the US futures regulator, publishes the Commitments of Traders (COT) report on open futures positions, gold included. In the CFTC’s words, “Generally, the data in the COT reports is from Tuesday and released Friday.” The picture is already three days old when you see it.
The legacy report splits traders into “commercial” and “non-commercial”, plus nonreportable positions held by smaller traders, as the CFTC’s explanatory notes describe. The disaggregated report uses four groups: Producer/Merchant/Processor/User, Swap Dealers, Managed Money and Other Reportables. Our COT report guide shows how to read the tables.
Try spot gold on the demo before you choose
A free demo account is available on every Volity account tier. Open XAU/USD, watch the dynamic spread at the hours you plan to trade, check the overnight rate and run the same sums you would run for a futures contract. Gold trades 24/7 on Volity, alongside crypto, silver, US500, US100 and WTI, while forex trades 24/5. Our gold trading platform page shows what the account includes, and the gold hub has more guides.
Whichever tool you pick, know the value of a $1 move, the deposit behind the position and your loss at the exit before the first trade.
Fact check: Contract details from CME Group’s gold fact card (Internet Archive, 2013) and ICE. Margin history from CME advisories chadv26-019 and chadv26-095 (Internet Archive), Bloomberg via MINING.COM and Reuters via Kitco. Curve and price data from the World Gold Council. COT details from the CFTC. CFD rules from ESMA, the FCA and ASIC. Checked 11 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How big is one gold futures contract?
The standard COMEX contract (GC) is 100 troy ounces, so a $1 move in the gold price changes its value by $100. Micro Gold (MGC) is 10 troy ounces, and the ICE London daily contract is 100 fine troy ounces.
What is the margin on a gold futures contract?
Since 13 January 2026, CME sets it as a percentage of contract value. It was 5% at first, 9% after 6 February 2026 and 7% after 6 March. It changes with volatility, so read today’s rate on CME’s site.
What is the difference between GC and MGC gold futures?
Size. GC covers 100 troy ounces and MGC covers 10, so every price move and margin amount on MGC is one tenth of GC. Both have the same $0.10 minimum price step per ounce.
Do I have to take delivery of the gold?
Only if you hold a position into delivery. GC settles physically in gold of at least 995 fineness. Most positions are closed or rolled to a later month before trading ends on the third last business day of the delivery month.
Are gold futures the same as spot gold?
No. Spot gold is priced for immediate delivery, while a futures price is for a later month. Gold futures usually trade above spot, a pattern called contango that reflects the cost of carry. A spot gold CFD tracks the spot price and has no expiry.
Can I trade gold 24 hours a day on Volity?
Yes. On Volity, spot gold trades 24/7 as a CFD on XAU/USD and XAU/EUR, alongside crypto, silver, US500, US100 and WTI. Forex trades 24/5. Futures exchanges keep their own session hours.
