Key takeaways
- Margin, volatility, and liquidity are market attributes you should consider when selecting futures to trade.
- Factors such as weather, geopolitical & global events, and seasonal demand, can affect the price of commodities.
- Stay updated with the latest market trends and swings of each asset you are trading for a higher success rate.
Introduction
The endless opportunities in trading futures are also a key factor undermining several traders' successes. While futures trading is rewarding, the risk is substantially higher.
Hence, going through several expert insights and market data, I’ve curated a list of the best futures to trade in 2025, which I’ll share with you for risk management and profit maximization.
What is futures trading?
Futures trading refers to financial agreements between two parties indicating their interest in buying or selling an asset at a predetermined price on a specified date.
The asset can be forex index, oil, metals, contracts, currencies, or stock indices. Hence, you can speculate on price movements or hedging against them to make profits.
In many cases, trading futures are a great way to make preexisting determinations on how you think the market will go, for example, you may hear the news that Cocoa will become a scarce commodity in the future, and you can speculate on Cocoa's price drastically increasing in the future.
List of the best futures to trade in 2025
The list below identifies the top futures instruments to trade, spanning across several types of futures designed to fulfill your areas of interest:
- S&P 500 Index Futures - Best Futures for Day Trading
- Bitcoin Futures - Best Futures to Trade at Night
- Crude Oil Futures - Best Futures for Large Price Movement
- Gold Futures - Best Futures for High Trading Volume
- Eurodollar - Best Futures to Trade for Beginners
- Nasdaq 100 Index Futures - Best Futures for Low Day-Trading Margin
- E-mini Russell 2000 - Best Futures for Small-cap Stocks
- Soybean Futures - Best Futures for Market Trends
- Cocoa Futures - Best Futures for Diversification
- Natural Gas Futures - Best Futures for Volatility
How we chose these best futures to trade
Here are some criteria you should consider when picking the best futures to trade:
- Market Liquidity: Liquidity eases you to trade without affecting the instrument's price. To consider an instrument liquid, you need high, market activities, trade volume, and open interest.
- Volatility: This helps you measure the amount of market movement to determine which futures have higher profit potentials. Whether a scalper or swing trader, you need good market movement to make profits.
- Margin requirements: Margin sums up the money you need as a deposit to open a trading position. It also determines the kind of contract you can trade and the position sizing permitted. Margin and equity work side-by-side. Remember, the lower the margin, the less money you need to risk.
- Market trends: Trend is every trader's friend. It can be bullish/bearish or ranging. Using historical data, earnings seasons, and economic cycles, you can predict market trends to take advantage of the movement.
- Trading strategy: Your trading methods will determine which futures to add to your watchlist. You need to back-test several instruments to see where your strategy works best or use AI trading.
- Time constraints: In line with your backtesting, you should figure out when to trade your selected market. We have grouped this list with every trader type in mind, day traders, night traders, scalpers, and swingers.
- Diversification: It's a no-brainer not to put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify your futures watchlists to include commodity, currency, interest rate, energy, and stock. However, only include instruments you have done your research on.
Best futures for day trading
S&P 500 Index (ES)
The S&P 500 futures (ES) throw you into the deep end of 500 large-cap U.S. giants, from tech titans such as Nvidia to industrial behemoths such as Costco and Walmart.
It’s a day trader’s dream, broad market exposure with a $50.712 trillion market cap fueling wild swings. In addition, Trump's tariff chaos is creating a potential opportunity for traders like you, to potentially capitalize off any eventual future market rebound.
Key Features:
- Low margins, sky-high liquidity, are over 1.5 million contracts daily.
- Volatility spikes 1-3% on Fed news or tariff tweets, perfect for scalping.
- Mini-contracts let you ride the wave without drowning in the capital.
Best futures to trade at night
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin futures (BTC) are the crypto king, running 24/7 on platforms like CME and Binance with leverage up to 100x. This is where night owl futures traders thrive.
While stocks sleep, BTC’s $1.2 trillion market cap churns, largely fueled by Elon’s X rants, halving hype, or until recently, Trump's support toward the crypto industry. It’s a volatility beast that sees huge trading volume 24/7.
Key features:
- High volume (500k+ contracts daily) and liquid as a river.
- The most traded crypto futures instrument.
- Margin flexibility lets you swing big across sleepless trends.
Best futures for large price movement
Crude Oil Futures (CL)
Globally, crude oil is one of the largest instruments in the energy market. Since oil is always in high demand across borders, there’s a year-round opportunity to trade Crude oil futures with guaranteed volatility.
Recently, with the onset of trade tariffs, oil has re-entered the limelight as a very appealing investment opportunity. With many traders speculating about an impending US recession, the use of oil will decline.
Key features:
- High trading volume, as it is one of the most actively traded commodities.
- Creates trading opportunities due to large price swings.
- Significantly volatile and influenced by global decisions.
Best futures for high trading volume
Gold Futures (GC)
If you love investing in conservative assets, then gold futures are for you. Gold has remained a haven for investors and traders alike.
Gold's value remains stable despite ongoing geopolitical tensions, pandemics, and economic turmoil. Its estimated market cap is approximately $19.7 trillion, making it a highly attractive potential financial asset you should consider adding to your portfolio.
In addition, with the latest information and uncertainty revolving around trade disputes, gold may act as a good hedge against market turmoil.
Key features:
- Used to protect and hedge against economic downturns (inflation and currency devaluation).
- One of the most actively traded futures contracts.
- Offers a stable margin with very high liquidity.
Best futures to trade for beginners
Eurodollar (GE)
Eurodollar is arguably the best futures for beginners. It's super liquid with low margin requirements. Also, it's good for hedging and speculation since it's less volatile when compared to other futures.
The EU has shown strong resilience when it comes to the recent trade disputes, strengthening the Euro against the dollar. In addition, the EU has announced numerous large-scale investments into new research and technology, potentially growing the EU's overall GDP.
Key features:
- Offers a direct play on interest rate expectations.
- Less volatile but has a high trading volume.
- Requires a low margin, making it perfect for beginners.
Best futures for low day-trading margin
Nasdaq-100 Futures (NDX)
NASDAQ tracks the performance of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the stock exchange market like Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT).
It's a no-brainer to trade due to tech firms' dynamic volatility. NDX is one of the best futures to trade as the majority of the companies within the Nasdaq-100 are primed to develop new technology and are known to be resilient during economic turmoil.
Key features:
- Access to track Nasdaq-100 index performance for tech-focused traders.
- Participate in stock trading without owning a single stock.
- Consistent volatility with huge market movements.
- Low margin requirement and good market trends.
Best futures for small-cap stocks
E-mini Russell 2000 (RTY)
The E-mini Russell 2000 tracks the performance of 2000 small-cap stocks across the US. It monitors the growth, value indexes, and options of these stocks to create a cheaper exposure for futures traders.
Considering the economic outlook throughout 2025, and over the next four years, futures traders trading the Russell 2000 may consider entering in at a short position, as economic growth has the potential to stall, having a direct impact on smaller businesses.
Key features:
- High volume and guaranteed liquidity.
- Cost-effective exposure for small-cap stock traders.
Best futures for market trends
Soybean Futures (ZS)
Soybean is a great addition if you want to trade agricultural commodities. You are guaranteed constant volatility, making it a good investment opportunity for beginners.
Soybeans are constantly in the news, acting as a large export of the US. With the onset of trade barriers, soybeans might take a dive potentially creating a shorting opportunity for the short term, and potentially a long position for a longer position.
Key features:
- High liquidity trading and volume.
- Easy to predict trend changes with seasonal agricultural trends.
- One of the most traded agricultural futures.
Best futures for diversification
Cocoa Futures (CCK)
Cocoa is an A+ addition for any futures trader. The market demand is always high and as such, it’s perfect to add to your list of the best futures to trade.
Cocoa's volatility is constantly fluctuating, but is closely aligned with supply chains among larger businesses, easier to gain an insight into where the market is heading. For example, if sales slow among chocolate companies, this may impact the price of Cocoa, incidentally bringing the price down.
Key features:
- Predictable seasonal trends make fundamental analysis easier.
- High liquidity is due to the constant demand for Cocoa products.
- Tradeable across all trading hours ensures you don't miss out on good trading signals.
Best futures for volatility
Natural Gas (NG)
Natural Gas (NG) futures are the untamed stallion of the trading world, it is a highly speculative inferno where 10-15% daily swings are just another Tuesday making gas a high-risk high-reward investment.
With a market cap tied to global energy demand and an average of 300k contracts traded daily, NG thrives on unpredictability, think hurricane season disruptions or Russia-Ukraine gas pipeline headlines.
Key features:
- Highly volatile with endless opportunities
- Fundamental triggers drive its price
- High-risk, high-reward payoff
Conclusion
Futures trading in 2025 can be profitable with the right mindset and knowledge. Regardless of your sector of interest, there is always a financial instrument for you to trade. Like all investments, futures trading is highly risky, so ensure you conduct thorough research before entering.
Hence, when collating a list of the best futures to trade in 2025, select those that align with your trading strategy, available capital, and trading goals. This helps you implement risk management strategies that work for you.
