Settlement Price
The official price used at expiration (or daily) to resolve all outstanding contracts — either cash-settled or as the delivery benchmark.
The settlement price has two related meanings in futures: (1) the daily settlement price used each session for mark-to-market calculations, and (2) the final settlement price at expiration used to cash-settle or initiate delivery.
For ES and NQ, the final settlement price is the Special Opening Quotation (SOQ) — a single-price determination of the underlying index at the open on expiration Friday. It can differ meaningfully from the Friday open price because it is calculated from the first individual trades of each constituent stock.
Traders holding positions into expiry should be aware that the SOQ can be significantly different from where ES/NQ futures traded at the Thursday close — a risk called settlement basis risk.
Related Terms
Cash Settlement
A settlement method where no physical asset changes hands at expiration — the contract settles to a final index or reference price in cash.
BeginnerDaily Settlement Price
The official closing price established by the exchange each session, used to calculate mark-to-market P&L and margin requirements.
IntermediateExpiration
The date on which a futures contract reaches the end of its life and is either cash-settled or triggers physical delivery.
BeginnerMark-to-Market
The daily revaluation of open futures positions to the settlement price, with gains and losses settled in cash each session.
Intermediate