Day Margin vs Overnight Margin

Futures brokers use different margin requirements depending on when you hold the position. Day-trade margin applies during active hours. Overnight margin applies if you hold past the cutoff.

What Is Margin In Futures?

Margin in futures is not a down payment on the full value of the contract. It’s a performance bond: the amount of capital the broker requires you to have in your account to open and hold a position.

Day-Trade (Intraday) Margin

Day-trade or intraday margin is a reduced margin level that applies only while the market is open and only during specified hours.

Brokers and prop firms set their own day-trade margin levels. Common patterns:

• ES / MES: significantly lower day-trade margin than full exchange margin
• NQ / MNQ: similar structure, broker-specific numbers
• Crude oil, gold, other futures: also often discounted intraday

Exact values are published on the broker or firm’s margin page.

Overnight Margin

Overnight margin is the margin required to hold a position outside the broker’s defined day-trade window, usually across the session close.

Overnight margin is typically much higher and is often close to the exchange’s full margin requirement for that contract.

Why Brokers Differentiate Them

The basic reasons:

• Intraday risk is easier to monitor and manage
• Overnight moves can be larger and less predictable
• Liquidity and spreads can change outside regular hours

Lower intraday margin lets traders use smaller accounts to access the market, but it comes with stricter time rules.

Cutoff Times

Each broker or prop firm defines its own cutoff for when day-trade margin ends. For example:

• All positions must be closed a certain number of minutes before the futures session close
• Some firms use a daily risk “shutdown” time where they auto-liquidate positions

If a trade is still open past the broker’s cutover time, it may:

• Be charged at the higher overnight margin rate
• Or be automatically closed by the broker’s risk system

Effect On Position Size

Intraday margin usually allows:

• More contracts per account size during the day
• Fewer contracts (or none) if you try to hold overnight without enough capital

This is why some traders can open multiple contracts intraday but would not have enough margin to carry even one of those positions overnight.

Where To See The Exact Numbers

Margin requirements are not universal. They vary by:

• Broker
• Prop firm
• Specific futures contract
• Market conditions (brokers can raise margins during high volatility)

The current day-trade and overnight margin for each product is listed on the broker’s or firm’s website. Those published tables are the final authority.

Summary

• Day-trade margin: lower requirement, intraday only, broker-defined window
• Overnight margin: higher requirement, for holding past the cutoff
• Exact amounts and times are always set by the broker or prop firm