futuresspecs

CME · Currencies · Futures

British Pound Futures (6B)

CME British Pound (6B) is £62,500 quoted in U.S. dollars per pound, tracking GBP/USD, traded nearly 24 hours a day on CME Globex.

Tick size / value
0.0001 USD/GBP = $6.25
Point value
$6.25 / pip
Active contract
6BZ26 Dec 2026
Next roll
Dec 7 in 69 days
Globex right now
Checking…
01

Contract specifications

Exchange
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group)
Underlying
British pound / U.S. dollar exchange rate
Contract unit
£62,500
Minimum tick
0.0001 USD per GBP = $6.25 per contract
Point value
$6.25 per pip (0.0001) · 1 tick per pip
Price quotation
U.S. dollars per British pound
Contract months
Quarterly: March (H), June (M), September (U), December (Z)
Settlement
Physical delivery
Final settlement
Delivery of currency on the third Wednesday of the contract month
Termination of trading
9:16 a.m. CT on the second business day before the third Wednesday of the contract month
Globex code
6B
Contract sizes compared
SymbolContractPer pipTick valueSize
6BBritish Pound$6.25$6.25This contract
M6BMicro GBP/USD$0.625$0.6251/10 of 6B

Source: CME Group contract specifications · reviewed Sep 30, 2026

02

Roll dates, first notice & expiration

ContractRoll dateFirst noticeLast trading dayDays left
6BZ26 Dec 2026 Active Mon, Dec 7, 2026 n/a Mon, Dec 14, 2026 76
6BH27 Mar 2027 Mon, Mar 8, 2027 n/a Mon, Mar 15, 2027 167
6BM27 Jun 2027 Mon, Jun 7, 2027 n/a Mon, Jun 14, 2027 258
6BU27 Sep 2027 Fri, Sep 3, 2027 n/a Mon, Sep 13, 2027 349
6BZ27 Dec 2027 Mon, Dec 6, 2027 n/a Mon, Dec 13, 2027 440
6BH28 Mar 2028 Mon, Mar 6, 2028 n/a Mon, Mar 13, 2028 531

Roll. Liquidity moves to the next quarter about a week before expiry. The date shown is five business days before the last trading day.

First notice day. No first notice day. The contract settles by physical delivery of currency on the third Wednesday – brokers require positions to be closed or rolled before the last trading day.

Last trading day. Second business day before the third Wednesday of the contract month (trading ends 9:16 a.m. CT).

US exchange holidays ahead: Nov 26 · Dec 25 · Jan 1 · Jan 18 · Feb 15 · Mar 26 · May 31 · Jun 18

Calculated from exchange rules and the US exchange holiday calendar. Confirm with the CME Group expiration calendar.

03

Trading hours (ET / CT)

SessionEastern (ET)Central (CT)Your time
CME Globex (electronic)Sun–Fri 6:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.Sun–Fri 5:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. –
Daily maintenance breakMon–Thu 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.Mon–Thu 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. –
US session (reference)Mon–Fri 8:20 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.Mon–Fri 7:20 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. –
Daily settlement3:00 p.m.2:00 p.m. –

Holiday hours differ – check the CME holiday calendar before trading around US holidays. ET is New York time, CT is Chicago time (always one hour behind ET).

04

Margins

CME Group maintenance margin per contract, outright position · as of Sep 30, 2026
ContractMaintenance
Oct 2026 – Dec 2026 Active $1,700
Jan 2027 – Sep 2031 $1,700

Exchange margins are the minimum your clearing firm must collect for positions held overnight. Brokers may require more – and usually offer much lower day-trading margins for positions closed before the session ends. A neutral broker day-margin comparison is coming soon.

05

COT positioning

CFTC Traders in Financial Futures (TFF), futures only · positions as of Tue, Sep 22, 2026 · released Sep 25, 2026

Dealers / Intermediaries

+108,142 net contracts

+39,919 vs. prior week · +44.2% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 54
COT Index 3 yr 80

Movement (6 wk): +10

Banks and dealers on the other side of client flow. Tend to act contrarian – selling strength, buying weakness.

Asset Managers

−115,805 net contracts

−26,594 vs. prior week · −47.3% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 55
COT Index 3 yr 22

Movement (6 wk): +3

Pension funds, insurers and mutual funds – including currency hedging of foreign holdings.

Leveraged Funds

+13,239 net contracts

−5,639 vs. prior week · +5.4% of OI

COT Index 26 wk 14
COT Index 3 yr 27

Movement (6 wk): −29

Hedge funds and CTAs. Trend followers – their net position tends to run with price and peaks near turning points.

Net positions, last 3 years contracts, long minus short
Dealers / IntermediariesAsset ManagersLeveraged Funds
COT Index, 3-year window 0 = most net short in 3 years, 100 = most net long · shaded: extreme zones
Dealers / IntermediariesLeveraged Funds
Traders in Financial Futures (TFF) · open interest 244,925 (−69,368 w/w)
GroupLongShortNet Δ 1 wkΔ 4 wkIndex 26 wkIndex 3 yrMove 6 wk
Dealers / Intermediaries 115,5877,445+108,142 +39,919+59,737 5480+10
Asset Managers 25,632141,437−115,805 −26,594−11,314 5522+3
Leveraged Funds 65,09451,855+13,239 −5,639−34,670 1427−29
Other Reportables 460924−464 −924−2,780 967−3
Nonreportables 25,20330,315−5,112 −6,762−10,973 5640−6
Legacy Report · open interest 244,925 (−69,368 w/w) · WILLCO (26 wk, commercials vs. OI): 81
GroupLongShortNet Δ 1 wkΔ 4 wkIndex 26 wkIndex 3 yrMove 6 wk
Commercials 162,04274,362+87,680 +30,615+49,017 5887+10
Non-Commercials 54,455137,023−82,568 −23,853−38,044 379−11
Nonreportables (small) 25,20330,315−5,112 −6,762−10,973 5640−6
Weekly net positions, last 12 reports (Traders in Financial Futures (TFF))
Report dateDealers / IntermediariesAsset ManagersLeveraged FundsOther ReportablesNonreportablesOpen interest
Sep 22, 2026+108,142−115,805+13,239−464−5,112244,925
Sep 15, 2026+68,223−89,211+18,878+460+1,650314,293
Sep 8, 2026+68,548−105,864+34,627+955+1,734318,608
Sep 1, 2026+59,203−107,333+43,167+1,191+3,772317,961
Aug 25, 2026+48,405−104,491+47,909+2,316+5,861318,468
Aug 18, 2026+68,565−117,240+42,877+1,578+4,220286,371
Aug 11, 2026+81,399−119,863+40,670+460−2,666256,447
Aug 4, 2026+92,011−125,814+38,174+460−4,831246,577
Jul 28, 2026+107,350−140,911+41,097+460−7,996267,426
Jul 21, 2026+85,978−119,089+33,236+613−738262,281
Jul 14, 2026+109,230−131,404+28,541+624−6,991265,153
Jul 7, 2026+135,307−143,257+17,979+434−10,463282,969
How to read these numbers
  • Net position = long minus short contracts (spread positions excluded).
  • COT Index = where today's net position sits within its range over the window: 100 × (net − min) / (max − min). It is a stochastic, not a percentile. Readings above 80 or below 20 are commonly treated as positioning extremes (after Stephen Briese and Larry Williams).
  • Movement Index = change of the 3-year COT Index over 6 weeks. Moves of ±40 points mark unusually fast repositioning.
  • WILLCO (Legacy report) = COT Index of commercials' net position as a share of open interest, 26-week window.
  • Positions are as of Tuesday and released Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET. COT data shows positioning, not timing – it is context, not a trading signal. Open-interest-based indicators are left out for stock index futures because quarterly expirations distort open interest.

Source: CFTC Public Reporting Environment · contract market code 096742 (BRITISH POUND - CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE)

06

6B profit & loss calculator

Price change– Ticks– Profit / loss–

Before commissions and exchange fees. Prices round to the nearest tick of 0.0001.

07

FAQ

What is the tick value of British pound futures (6B)?

One tick (one pip, 0.0001) is worth $6.25 per contract and $0.625 on Micro GBP/USD (M6B).

When do currency futures roll?

About a week before expiry in March, June, September and December, when liquidity moves to the next quarter.

What does the COT Index show?

The COT Index places a group's current net position within its own range over a lookback window: 100 = the most net long in that window, 0 = the most net short. It measures positioning extremes, not timing.