SPI 200 Contract Specifications

The ASX SPI 200 goes by several names and is written about inconsistently. This page states the contract terms plainly, including the SFE naming that still appears in older broker documentation and search results.

What is the SFE SPI 200?

The same contract. The Sydney Futures Exchange, SFE, was the original venue, and it merged into the Australian Securities Exchange in 2006. Nearly twenty years later, brokers, data vendors and search results still use "SFE SPI 200", "SPI 200" and "ASX SPI 200" interchangeably.

If a platform lists SFE SPI 200 and another lists ASX SPI 200, they are quoting the same instrument. There is no separate SFE contract to hunt for.

Contract terms

Commodity code: AP
Underlying: the S&P/ASX 200 index
Value per index point: A$25
Minimum tick: one index point, so A$25 per tick
Contract months: March, June, September and December
Last trading day: the third Thursday of the settlement month, ceasing at midday Sydney time
Settlement: cash settled against the opening prices of the underlying index constituents

A$25 a point is the number to internalise before sizing anything. A 20 point move, which the SPI can cover quickly, is A$500 per contract.

What margin is required?

Initial margin on the SPI 200 is set by ASX Clear and moves with volatility, so any figure quoted in an article ages badly. Check the current number with your broker. Don't trust a static page, including this one.

Two things do stay true. Margin is a performance bond, so the exposure you carry is the full A$25 per point regardless of what you posted. And brokers routinely require more than the exchange minimum, particularly for accounts held overnight, so the number that matters is your broker's number.

Trading hours

Day session: 9:50am to 4:30pm Sydney time. It opens ten minutes before the ASX 200 cash market and runs half an hour past its close.
Night session: 5:10pm Sydney time through to the following morning, ending at 7:00am during US daylight saving and 8:00am outside it.

The night session overlaps the US cash session almost exactly, which is why the SPI can gap several points before Sydney has opened.

Which contract month should I be trading?

The front month, until volume rolls to the next one. The roll happens in the days before the third Thursday of the expiry month, and it is worth watching: liquidity moves when the market moves it.

Trading a contract that the volume has already left means wider spreads and levels built on prices that fewer participants are watching.

How does the SPI relate to the ASX 200 index?

The index is a number and cannot be traded. The SPI is the futures contract written on it, and it is what orders actually go into. The two track closely and drift apart overnight: the future trades far more hours than the cash market, so it moves overnight while the index is frozen.

When a trade plan quotes levels for "ASX 200 / SPI", the levels come from the futures contract, because that is the instrument you can put an order into. The ASX 200 and SPI day trading FAQ covers how the sessions interact.

Where can I get SPI 200 levels?

Little Bird Trading publishes ASX 200 and SPI support, resistance and pivot levels after each Sydney close, for the next session. The prior session's levels are free and Pro adds the coming session's levels after the close.