Are you curious about how professional investors trade gold? In fact, besides buying and selling physical gold, there is another way: trading gold futures contracts. This is a quite interesting financial instrument that many people do not fully understand.

Gold futures contracts are essentially agreements to buy or sell gold on a future date at a predetermined price. These contracts have standard terms such as margin requirements, delivery dates, minimum price fluctuation, and delivery methods. To participate, you need to open a futures account with a reputable futures company.

Profits or losses from trading gold futures come from the price difference between entry and exit points. If you hold the contract until maturity, physical delivery will occur.

The COMEX market in New York is the largest and most active global trading venue for gold futures contracts. Here, a standard gold futures lot is 100 ounces of 99.5% pure gold, while a smaller lot is 50 ounces with a minimum price fluctuation of $0.25 per ounce. Trading on COMEX operates 23 hours a day except weekends, with closing times from 5:15 to 6:00 a.m. local time for settlement.

Besides COMEX, the Shanghai Futures Exchange also offers gold futures contracts with different conditions. Here, one lot is 1 kilogram of gold, with approximately 7x leverage. Interestingly, you can trade both day and night, supporting T+0 trading and two-way strategies. The minimum fluctuation is 0.02 yuan per gram, and the minimum margin is about 8% of the contract value, though this can be adjusted during high market volatility.

Gold futures are truly a powerful tool for those who want to participate in the gold market at a lower cost than buying physical gold. The key is to understand the mechanism thoroughly before starting to trade.