Price gets all the attention, but two other numbers on every futures quote board tell you a lot about what's behind it. Volume shows how much trading happened. Open interest shows how many positions are still out there. Neither predicts the future, but both help you understand the market you're stepping into.
The definitions
Volume is the number of contracts traded during a period, usually a day. CME Group's volume figures include trades from all its venues, including electronic trading on Globex.
Open interest is the total number of contracts that remain open. CME Group notes that every trade has a buyer and a seller, but only one side is counted for open interest. It's typically reported once per day, after the session.
How a trade changes open interest
| Buyer is… | Seller is… | Open interest |
|---|---|---|
| Opening a new long | Opening a new short | Rises by 1 |
| Opening a new long | Closing an existing long | Unchanged |
| Closing an existing short | Opening a new short | Unchanged |
| Closing an existing short | Closing an existing long | Falls by 1 |
So volume can be huge while open interest barely changes, for example on a day dominated by day traders who open and close positions.
The practical use: liquidity
For most beginners, the single most useful thing about these numbers is this: trade where the liquidity is. Contracts with high volume and open interest usually have tighter bid-ask spreads and make it easier to enter and exit near the price you expect.
- Compare volume across contract months to find the most active month.
- Watch volume migrate to the next month as expiration nears. See expiration and rollover.
- Be cautious in deferred months, overnight hours, and smaller contracts with thin volume.
Reading volume, open interest, and price together
Many technical traders use a rough framework like the one below. Treat it as a way to ask questions, not as rules the market follows.
| Price | Open interest | One common interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Rising | Rising | New buyers entering; trend has participation |
| Rising | Falling | Shorts covering; rally may be less supported |
| Falling | Rising | New sellers entering |
| Falling | Falling | Longs liquidating; selling may be exhaustion |
Volume spikes often accompany news, breakouts, or the end of a sharp move. Whether the spike marks a beginning or an end is only clear in hindsight.
Where to find the numbers
Exchanges publish daily volume and open interest for each contract and contract month, and most trading platforms display them on quote screens and as chart studies. CME Group's volume and open interest pages explain what each column means, including that its volume figures cover all of its trading venues. Keep in mind that preliminary figures are sometimes revised the next day as trades are cleared.
Volume is available in real time, bar by bar, so you can watch it build during a session. Open interest is calculated after the clearing process, so it's usually a once-a-day number that tells you about yesterday's positions.
A simple worked example
Imagine a quiet market with open interest of 100,000 contracts. Over the next week, price climbs steadily and open interest rises to 115,000. Under the common framework above, many traders would read that as new long positions coming in alongside new shorts willing to sell to them, a sign the move has fresh participation.
Now imagine price keeps climbing the following week, but open interest drops back to 104,000. That pattern is often read as short sellers buying back their positions rather than new buyers arriving. The rally might continue, or it might fade once the short covering is done. Neither outcome is certain. The point of the exercise is to ask better questions about why price is moving, not to get an answer.
Comparing the same market across several contract months adds another layer. If almost all the open interest sits in one month, that's where the liquidity is, and where most beginners should be trading.
Volume by time of day
Futures volume isn't spread evenly across the nearly 24-hour session. Activity typically clusters around the opening of the main U.S. trading day, around scheduled reports, and near the close, with thinner trading overnight. Thin periods can mean wider bid-ask spreads and sharper moves on small orders. Knowing when your market is most active helps you decide when to trade and when to stay out, a good rule to write into your trading plan.
Limits and pitfalls
- Open interest is end-of-day. It won't help with minute-to-minute decisions.
- Rolls distort it. Around expiration, open interest falls in one month and rises in the next for reasons unrelated to market direction.
- Spreads and hedges add noise. Positions held as parts of spreads or hedges change open interest without being directional bets.
- Interpretations are tendencies. The table above is a starting framework, not a forecast.
To see who holds the open interest, look at the CFTC's weekly Commitments of Traders report.
Before you trade
Futures are leveraged. A small price move can produce a large gain or loss, and losses can exceed the money in your account. This article is general education, not a recommendation to buy or sell any contract.
- Practice in a simulated (paper) account before using real money.
- Decide your maximum loss per trade before you enter, and size positions to it.
- Confirm current contract specifications and margin requirements with the exchange and your broker.
Common questions
What is open interest in futures?
The total number of futures contracts that are still open, not yet offset or delivered. Each contract has a buyer and a seller, but it's counted only once.
Is high volume bullish?
Not by itself. Volume shows activity, not direction. Traders look at volume together with price and open interest, and even then the signals are only tendencies.
Why does volume shift from one contract month to another?
As a contract approaches expiration, most traders roll to the next month, so activity migrates to the new front month. That's why volume and open interest are useful for spotting which month is most liquid.
Sources
- Volume and Open Interest Columns Explained — CME Group. www.cmegroup.com/market-data/volume-open-interest/about.html
- Understanding Futures Expiration & Contract Roll — CME Group Education. www.cmegroup.com/education/courses/introduction-to-futures/understanding-futures-expiration-contract-roll.html
- Commitments of Traders — U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. www.cftc.gov/MarketReports/CommitmentsofTraders/index.htm
Last reviewed October 17, 2026. Educational content only; not investment advice. Contract specifications and margins change, so confirm current figures with the exchange and your broker. See our risk disclosure.
