Gold Futures
A gold futures contract is an exchange-traded agreement to buy or sell a set amount of gold at a fixed price on a future date. The benchmark is the COMEX gold contract (GC) in New York, covering 100 troy ounces; in India, MCX Gold uses a 1 kg lot. The table and chart below compare a futures-based gold price with spot.
Gold futures vs spot
| Weight & purity | Live price |
|---|---|
| Gold, continuous futures-based price (TVC:GOLD) | live |
| Spot gold · 1 troy ounce (XAU/USD) | live |
| Spot gold · 1 gram | live |
Live COMEX exchange quotes can only be embedded on TradingView itself, so this table uses TradingView's continuous gold price (TVC:GOLD), which follows the futures market, next to spot. The gap between futures and spot is the basis, explained below.
Main gold futures contracts
| Contract | Exchange | Size | Quoted in | Tick value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold (GC) | COMEX (CME Group) | 100 troy oz | USD per oz | $0.10 = $10 |
| Micro Gold (MGC) | COMEX (CME Group) | 10 troy oz | USD per oz | $0.10 = $1 |
| Gold | MCX (India) | 1 kg | ₹ per 10 g | — |
| Gold Mini | MCX (India) | 100 g | ₹ per 10 g | — |
MCX also lists smaller gold contracts aimed at retail traders. COMEX gold trades electronically on CME Globex nearly 24 hours, Sunday evening to Friday afternoon (New York time), with a one-hour daily break. GC is physically deliverable against approved bars held in exchange-licensed vaults, but the great majority of positions are closed or rolled before delivery.
How futures relate to spot: contango and basis
Gold pays no income and is cheap to store, so the futures price is mainly the spot price plus the cost of financing the purchase until delivery. That is why gold futures usually trade above spot (contango), and why deferred months trade above nearer ones. The difference between a futures price and spot is the basis.
A worked example with illustrative numbers: spot is $4,150 and short-term US dollar interest rates are 4% a year. Financing an ounce for three months costs about 4,150 × 0.04 × 0.25 = $41.50, so a contract three months out would trade near $4,191.50. As expiry approaches the basis shrinks towards zero. When the basis jumps far beyond the interest-rate gap, it usually signals a squeeze on physical metal in one location, as happened between New York and London in 2020 and again in 2025 when traders moved gold into US vaults.
This is the main reason a chart labelled "gold" on a trading site can show a different number from the spot gold price table.
Contract months and rollover
COMEX gold lists many months, but liquidity concentrates in February, April, June, August, October and December. Traders hold the most active month and, before it enters the delivery period, sell it and buy the next active month. This is the roll. Because the next month normally trades higher, a long position pays the basis each time it rolls, a cost that roughly matches the interest you would pay to finance physical gold. Continuous charts such as GC1! splice successive front months together, so they can show small jumps on roll dates that never happened in spot.
Margin and leverage
Futures are bought on margin: a deposit, not the full price. The exchange sets minimum margins and changes them as volatility changes; brokers can require more. With gold at an illustrative $4,150, one GC contract controls $415,000 of gold and one MGC contract $41,500. If the required initial margin were 8% of value, you would post $33,200 for GC or $3,320 for MGC. A $41.50 (1%) move then changes the GC position's value by $4,150, which is 12.5% of the margin posted. Losses beyond your deposit trigger a margin call. This leverage is why futures are a trading and hedging tool, not a substitute for owning gold.
MCX gold for Indian traders
MCX gold prices are quoted in rupees per 10 grams and reflect the domestic landed price, so they include the effect of the 6% import duty and the rupee exchange rate. That makes MCX a closer guide to Indian jewellers' rates than COMEX. MCX trades into the late evening to overlap with US hours, which is why the MCX price can move after jewellers have published their morning rates. Indian investors who want gold exposure without margin often use gold ETFs or sovereign gold bonds instead. For the retail rate, see gold rate in India.