Futures Margin: Intraday, Initial and Overnight Requirements

Three margin labels answer different questions

Futures margin is collateral supporting a position's obligations. Initial margin concerns the funds needed to establish or carry exposure under the applicable rules. Maintenance margin is the ongoing level below which additional action may be required. Intraday margin is a broker policy that can permit lower collateral during a specified period, subject to its restrictions.

CME's margin FAQ explains initial and maintenance requirements. The exchange framework does not determine every detail of a customer's intraday arrangement. Brokers may impose additional requirements and can define earlier deadlines. Read the account policy alongside the exchange information.

The word “overnight” can be misleading if interpreted as your local bedtime. The relevant event is the account's trading-session cutoff. A position entered during your evening may still be intraday for the broker, while one held briefly across a designated boundary may require the higher amount. Time zone and date matter.

Build a margin worksheet with effective times

Separate the requirement from the rule that makes it applicable

Item	Record	Why it matters
Exact instrument	Product, contract month and quantity	Requirements can differ across products and positions.
Intraday policy	Current amount and eligibility conditions	A displayed minimum may apply only temporarily.
Carry requirement	Initial and relevant house requirements	The amount needed across the cutoff may be larger.
Effective cutoff	Date, time, time zone and holiday adjustment	The deadline can precede the session close.
Available equity	Account balance adjusted for relevant live items	Open loss and charges reduce the available buffer.
Policy changes	Event notices and broker communications	Requirements may change during a volatile period.

For a concrete policy example, NinjaTrader's published position-management page, checked September 19, 2026, describes intraday rates ending 15 minutes before the session close and initial margin becoming necessary. It also explains that risk conditions and holiday schedules can change requirements. That is one broker's stated policy, not a universal timetable.

Instead of copying changing dollar figures into this guide, use the broker's current market table and your account notices. A source-check date tells you when a policy was inspected; it does not freeze the policy. The futures hours guide covers session and holiday verification.

Work through a cutoff without any price movement

Consider a hypothetical account with $4,000 equity and three contracts. Assume its intraday requirement is $200 per contract and the applicable carry requirement is $1,500. These amounts are deliberately invented to isolate the calculation.

1. During the assumed intraday period, required collateral is 3 × $200 = $600.
2. The simple excess over that requirement is $4,000 − $600 = $3,400.
3. At the policy cutoff, the same quantity requires 3 × $1,500 = $4,500.
4. With equity unchanged, the account is $500 below that new requirement.

The shortfall comes from a rule changing, not from a losing price move. Two contracts would require $3,000 under this simplified carry model, but that observation is not an instruction to close one. Actual eligibility can include other positions, pending orders, house add-ons and funding restrictions. An intended reduction is not complete until the relevant fill and position change are confirmed.

Now add a $350 open loss and $30 in charges before the cutoff. Equity becomes $3,620 in the simplified ledger. Three contracts would be $880 short of the $4,500 requirement. Recording only the morning account balance would conceal that larger shortfall.

Initial and maintenance are not interchangeable targets

Suppose another hypothetical position has initial collateral of $1,800 and maintenance of $1,500. If applicable account equity falls to $1,450, returning only to $1,500 may not satisfy a call to restore initial margin. The required response follows the relevant rules and broker instructions, including when funds must be available.

The example illustrates why a screen showing “maintenance” should not be read as permission to operate at that exact value. There may be no tolerance for additional movement, commissions or policy changes. A broker can also liquidate according to its agreement rather than waiting for a convenient time to contact the customer.

CME's margin lesson discusses additional funds, position reduction and potential liquidation. The exact sequence is account-specific. Do not assume a warning email guarantees time to transfer cash or that a pending deposit is already usable collateral.

Keep margin separate from the stop-loss scenario

A planned stop calculation begins with price distance, contract value and quantity. Imagine two contracts whose tick value is $1.25, with a 20-tick planned exit distance. The price-loss estimate is 2 × 20 × $1.25 = $50 before costs. The broker might require a quite different collateral amount; neither number replaces the other.

If the actual exit occurs 28 ticks away, that price component becomes $70. Margin did not prevent the extra movement, and the intended stop did not change the contract multiplier. A loss budget needs explicit assumptions about fills and charges, while margin eligibility needs current account and broker information.

The ES/MES and NQ/MNQ guides show how whole-contract size affects planning. A smaller contract can provide finer increments, but multiplying the quantity restores exposure. A low advertised opening threshold is not evidence of a comfortable loss buffer.

Broker changes and market access can interact

A requirement can increase around an event, a session transition or a change in the broker's assessment of market conditions. The order in which you check price risk and collateral therefore matters: a calculation made earlier in the day may be stale even if the chosen symbol and quantity have not changed.

Market access also has limits. An instruction to close near a deadline still needs execution. A connection failure, unavailable market or unfilled limit may leave exposure open. A margin worksheet should identify where the actual position can be checked and how the broker handles urgent account questions, rather than treating a scheduled software action as proof of closure.

Do not use the session break as an assumed grace period. Confirm whether the broker requires funds before the break, whether holiday sessions have a different boundary, and whether event-based rules apply to new positions, existing positions or both. The answers can differ by broker and product.

Multi-account copying does not pool collateral

Assume a source account and two destination accounts each hold the same hypothetical two-contract position, requiring $3,000 per account across a cutoff. If their equities are $8,000, $4,000 and $2,800, the third account has a $200 shortfall even though the combined equity is $14,800. Adding the balances together does not repair that account's eligibility.

A copying plan should evaluate the destination's quantity and account state separately. Matching the source contract count may be inappropriate for a smaller balance, a different margin schedule or different open exposure. A source-side successful order does not prove that a destination can accept it.

Use copy configuration information to clarify the intended sizing rule, then verify the current account conditions. The equity-protection article addresses controls, but an account threshold should never be described as guaranteeing a final loss amount or satisfying broker margin requirements.

A repeatable check before carrying a position

Record the current full symbol and quantity, the applicable requirement at the next cutoff and the equity the broker recognizes now. Include an allowance for already known charges and identify any other positions or pending orders that affect the calculation. Then check the latest broker notice and the relevant holiday calendar.

Keep your decision record explicit: hold under the verified requirement, reduce exposure through confirmed fills, or ask the broker to resolve an unclear policy before the deadline. The correct response depends on the actual account; this guide supplies the questions and arithmetic rather than a universal instruction.

Finally, confirm that the record after the cutoff matches the intended state. A canceled order, requested close and filled close are different outcomes. For the separate issue of expiring contracts and delivery restrictions, continue with cash versus physical settlement.