Apart from the difference in contract size, I would appreciate any opinions on trading Nikkei 225 futures on the Osaka Securities Exchange (OSE) versus SIMEX (liquidity, volitility, etc.). Thank you. Regards,
While you're at it, I'd like to hear from anyone who has traded the yen-denominated Nikkei 225 on the CME. Do you choose the yen contract to capitalize on moves in the yen vs the dollar? Or are there other reasons for the choice?
I just went back to working full-time in an office rather than at home, so now I can't trade the US markets during RTH. I've been catching some DAX/Bund action in the morning and in the evening the futures in Australia, Singapore, and Japan. I've had a hard time getting good tick data for the Hong Kong market.
I am US based. I use it as an indicator that I can watch during the US trading day and to have access to Japan at "night". It is actually quite accurate at nailing down the Osaka open. The only one I am aware of at CME is NKD in IB and it is dollar denominated. It does not trade during the Japanese "day". Can't comment on currencies. Basically all I do is watch a lot of index futures from all over the world and read newspapers. Do it long enough and you see one that sticks out somewhere. With NKD keep in mind its quite thin at times. On the other hand, that makes it quite easy to see the market maker(s). My sense is the tendency is toward a 4 tick spread. Geo.
It looks like the tick for the SGX Nikkei contract is half the size of the OSE contract. And since both markets tend to be one-tick markets, it would seem you could execute with less slippage on SGX. What do you think? Aaron Schindler Schindler Trading
I've been told Osaka is mostly institutional traffic and Singapore more pure traders. Have no idea if that's something useful to know.
No, I'm not that sophisticated in my trading. I'm just looking for the markets most likely to give me some movement during the odd hours and relatively short time I'll have available for trading each day. The SPI index futures on the Sydney Futures Exchange seems like the best night time (Eastern time) market so far, but the Nikkei 225 futures on SGX are okay too; however, my experience so far suggests that none of them have the liquidity of the US or EU markets.
Time to go long NIKKEI 225 future. I've been waiting since sharp dip earlier this year, and the move up appears confirmed and for the long term. Among other reasons, pessimism about 2005 profits appears priced in (ripe to be priced out), and the dollar appears stubborn above 110.00 USD/Yen, ensuring excellent profits in USA for exports. The latter comes on the heels of a 2004 record year, percentage wise, in that respect.