How to Read Swiss Franc Futures Quotes
Learn to read 6S Swiss Franc futures quotes by month-year, USD-per-franc notation, Globex and ClearPort increments, quote fields, spreads, and data status.
Direct answer
Read a 6S Swiss Franc futures quote as a complete record: product root, month-year, U.S.-dollars-per-franc convention, quote type, price field, source, timestamp, session, and data status. A standard CME Globex outright uses 0.00005 USD per franc, or $6.25 per contract, and Rule 542 spreads share that increment, while a ClearPort transaction has its own 0.00001 increment. A bare CHF/USD-like number is incomplete.
Start with the 6S quoted unit: U.S. dollars per franc
6S is quoted in U.S. dollars per franc, rather than in francs per U.S. dollar. The convention gives a quoted rate its direction and its dollar interpretation when paired with the 125,000-franc trading unit. Do not infer a contract value, spot conversion, or orderable price from digits alone when the quotation unit is absent.
What Swiss Franc futures are explains the standard 6S unit and physical-delivery design. Swiss Franc futures expiration and delivery shows why an otherwise similar rate must still retain its named contract month.
The 6S month-year pins a number to one dated agreement
6S names the futures product family, not a single timeless contract. Preserve the month code and year before comparing rates, looking at a chart, or discussing a delivery date. The Exchange determines its trading and delivery months, so an interface's nearby shorthand is not evidence of a fixed current listing schedule.
Futures contract month codes decodes a compact 6S month letter and year into the dated agreement behind the digits. When a quote lacks either field, log it as unknown instead of borrowing the most visible contract's date.
Apply the 6S increment only after naming the market path
For an ordinary outright 6S trade on CME Globex, 0.00005 USD per franc is the minimum fluctuation, equal to $6.25 per 125,000-franc contract. That is a contract rule for this quote type, not a universal display precision for CHF/USD data or every way a transaction can be submitted.
Futures tick value and contract multipliers runs the 6S dollar math once the instrument is fixed. How to read futures contract specifications separates the 125,000-franc trading unit, the USD-per-franc quotation, the market path, and the price increment into four fields.
A 6S calendar spread pairs two months under one shared half-tick
An eligible Franc/U.S. dollar intra-currency spread is a simultaneous relationship between two 6S contract months. Chapter 254 sets the same 0.00005 USD per franc half-tick for that Rule 542 case, $6.25 for the standard unit, so the spread increment matches the outright rather than shrinking beneath it. The equality does not mean one leg's quote can stand in for the spread record.
Futures calendar spreads describes why each 6S leg and the relationship need to be retained. A ClearPort submission uses a distinct 0.00001 increment, about $1.25, so its market path must not be silently treated as a Globex outright or a Rule 542 spread.
Keep the 6S price field and data status with the number
A bid, ask, last trade, daily settlement, or another labelled field describes a different observation. The source, timestamp, time zone, session, and status such as real-time, delayed, closed, or indicative complete that label. A continuous chart can also change its underlying month and should not replace a tradable month-year.
Futures settlement price versus last trade explains why a 6S daily settlement print and a 6S transaction print cannot be swapped just because their rates sit close together.
This guide explains 6S quote interpretation. It does not provide a live price, validate a market-data entitlement, recommend an order, or predict CHF/USD. Current CME rules and a provider's data terms govern a particular observation.
Common questions
Is 6S quoted as CHF/USD?
6S uses a U.S.-dollars-per-franc convention, commonly described as CHF/USD. Keep that unit with the rate instead of reversing it from a visual assumption.
Does 6S alone identify a tradable contract?
No. 6S identifies the Swiss Franc futures product root. A month and year identify the particular contract to which a quote or order field applies.
What is the ordinary 6S tick on CME Globex?
For an ordinary outright, the minimum fluctuation is 0.00005 U.S. dollar per franc, equal to $6.25 per standard contract.
Is the 6S spread increment smaller than the outright?
No. 6S Rule 542 intra-currency spreads share the same 0.00005 half-tick increment. Only ClearPort submissions use a smaller 0.00001 increment.
Is a 6S settlement field the same as the last trade?
No. Settlement and last trade are distinct labelled fields. Keep each field's contract month, source, observation time, and data status before comparing it.