Indices Trading

Trade a variety of index products using options, futures and exchange traded funds (ETFs) with America's top online broker.¹ Take your position with an index product that works for your account size and risk tolerance.

Open an Account

Why trade indices with us?

Reduced Risk

Reduce single-stock volatility by trading a basket of stocks to lower your risk²

Market Flexibility

Make short or long-term assumptions with a wide range of expirations

Cash Settlements

Play your index trade all the way up to expiration on select index products³

Diversified
Exposure

Get exposure to multiple asset classes and sectors with index ETFs, index futures and index options

Curated
Watchlists

Keep up to date on index markets with over 15 index watchlists and their respective components

Market Awareness

Index futures can offer new insights regarding local and global financial markets, and the outlook for the upcoming trading session

Learn about settlement and expiration of cash-settled index options

What Index Products Can I Trade?

With tastyworks, you can trade an index (i.e. the S&P 500, NASDAQ100, VIX and many more) on our award-winning platform.¹ Utilize different products for your portfolio - from cash-settled indices, ETFs, ETNs, index options and futures - to suit your account size and risk tolerance.

Index Options

You can trade options on an index instead of speculating on individual components of the index using e.g. the SPX, VIX, SPC, RUT, DJX, RUT, VRO

Index Futures

Gain access to greater leverage⁴ when you trade index futures. Hedge your portfolio with equity index futures

Index ETFs

Diversify your portfolio with index ETFs (exchange traded funds ETFs), a more capital efficient way of gaining exposure to a specific index

OPTIONS
FUTURES

Symbol	Root	Monthly/Weekly
VIX	VIX	both
SPX	SPX	both
XSP	XSP	both
NDX	NDX	monthly
NDX	NDX P	weekly
RUT	RUT	monthly
RUT	RUT W	weekly
DJX	DJX	monthly
MNX	MNX	monthly
OEX	OEX	both
XEO	XEO	both
RVX	RVX	monthly

Symbol	Name
/ES	E-Mini S&P 500
/MES	Micro E-Mini S&P 500
/NQ	E-Mini NASDAQ 100
/MNQ	Micro E-Mini NASDAQ 100
/YM	E-Mini Dow
/MYM	Micro E-Mini Dow
/RTY	E-Mini Russell 2000
/M2K	Micro E-Mini Russell 2000

Discover The Index Markets

With tastyworks, you can explore and trade some of the most traded indices from around the world. Some of the most popular indices you can choose from on our platform include:

Indices

S&P 500

NASDAQ 100

Russell 2000

VIX

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI)

Smalls

STIX

SM75

SCCX

S420

See a list of Smalls

Trade Indices and Understand the Fee Structure

When trading indices with tastyworks, the fee structure is different from other option products.

Familiarize yourself with the fees and costs of trading indices:

Symbol	Description	Fee per contract
SPX	S&P 500	$0.65
RUT	Russell 2000	$0.18
VIX	CBOE Market Volatility Index	$0.65
OEX	S&P 100 (American-style exercise)	$0.40
XEO	S&P 100 (European-style exercise)	$0.40
DJX	Dow Jones Industrial Average 1/100	$0.18
NDX	NASDAQ 100	$0.18
XSP	Mini-SPX⁵	$0.00/$0.04

Find out more about pricing and fees

What's an Index and How Do They Work?

An index is a basket of publicly listed companies' stock, that captures an entire market or are specific to an industry sector, segment, a particular market or region.

Indices work by giving you the opportunity to trade a basket of stocks in a specific index with each stock possibly having a different weight.

How to Trade Indices

Understand what an index is and how indices work
Create a tastyworks account or log in
Create a trading plan and a risk management strategy
Open your index position, then monitor and close it

Apply For A Trading Account In Minutes

Discover a platform with execution features for veteran traders and newbies
Become familiar with our award-winning tastyworks platform¹ and enjoy its flexibility and speed
Boost your trading knowledge with insights and trade inspiration
Get access to curated watchlists for a broad overview of indices and get trade inspiration with Follow Feed and video feed
Get peace of mind trading on a reliable platform
Feel secure knowing you are trading on one of the fastest and most reliable trading platforms in the world

Ready to Trade?

Open an Account

Trade Indices on the Best Trading Platform¹

Trade indices on a secure, fast and reliable platform. get instant access to global markets and customize your trading needs with our innovative features.

Desktop

Download the tastyworks platform and sign in straight from your desktop computer

Browser

Enter your login details on any device browser and start trading

Try It Now

Mobile

Access your account from anywhere with the mobile version - the world's your oyster

Get For IOS
Get For Android

¹ Named the Best Online Broker by Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) in its ninth annual survey.

² Volatility still exists with indices due to economic forecasts and occurrences such as natural disasters, pandemics, and geopolitical events.

³ The non-quarterly options on equity indices futures do not settle to cash (they settle to the future)

⁴ Leverage – Notional value/margin of 1 short option or 1 futures contract. Increased leverage can substantially increase risk and loss to your portfolio in the event of adverse market movements.

⁵ XSP contract fees are as follows: $0.00 for less than 10 contracts per leg and $0.04 for 10 contracts per leg or more.