6N Contract Specs Explained: Tick Size, Tick Value, Hours, and Margins
If you’re trading 6N futures, you need the contract specs locked in. The 6N is CME’s New Zealand Dollar futures contract, and knowing the tick size, tick value, hours, and margin structure keeps you from blowing the account because you guessed wrong.
The Core Specs of the 6N Futures Contract
Here are the pieces that actually matter when money is on the line:
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Symbol | 6N |
| Underlying | NZD/USD |
| Contract Size | 100,000 NZD |
| Minimum Tick | 0.0001 |
| Tick Value | $10.00 |
| Exchange | CME |
| Settlement | Physical (but you’ll be flat before delivery) |
The contract size is always the part beginners underestimate. A “small” move like 0.0020 is actually a 20-tick move. At $10 per tick, that's $200 per contract—fast.
6N Tick Size and Tick Value
This contract moves in increments of 0.0001. Each one is worth $10. If 6N goes from 0.6031 to 0.6040, that’s 9 ticks → $90 per contract. No complicated decimals. No fancy conversions.
Compare this to the intro article if you need more context on the currency pair itself.
Trading Hours for 6N
6N trades on the CME Globex platform almost 24 hours a day:
- Sunday–Friday
- 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Central Time
- One-hour break: 4:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. CT
The real movement tends to show up during two windows:
- Asian session (New Zealand + Australia open)
- U.S. session when the Dollar gets hit with new data
The dead zone is between late U.S. afternoon and early Asian hours.
Margin Requirements
CME sets the base margin, but your broker determines what you actually pay. Typical values:
| Margin Type | Approx Value |
|---|---|
| Initial Margin | $2,500–$3,200 |
| Maintenance Margin | $2,300–$3,000 |
| Day-Trade Margin | $400–$800 (broker dependent) |
If you’re trading through a prop firm, forget these numbers—the firm sets your effective leverage based on trailing drawdown, not CME rules.
Why These Specs Matter
The tick value tells you how fast you can bleed out. The margins tell you how much heat you can take before you’re forcibly closed. And the trading hours tell you when the market actually moves instead of chopping your account to death.
Once you memorize these specs, everything else—volatility patterns, session behavior, rate cycles—starts making sense. From here, you can dig into 6N volatility patterns or the upcoming article on NZD fundamentals.