Last updated: September 30, 2026
ES (S&P 500 E-mini) is on the TestMax free plan with the latest two months of data. Replay real historical bars, practice simulated orders, and review your results with drawing tools, analytics, and a trade journal. Pro adds full available history.
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TestMax uses accurate CME S&P 500 E-mini contract specs for realistic backtesting and P&L calculation.
| Tick Size | 0.25 |
|---|---|
| Multiplier | $50 |
| Tick Value | $12.50 |
ES moved an average of 75.82 points per session from Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026, about 303 ticks or $3,791 per contract. The busiest hour was 09:00–10:00 Chicago time.
| Average daily range | 75.82 points |
|---|---|
| Per contract | 303 ticks · $3,791 |
| Largest session | 177 points on Jul 29, 2026 |
| Busiest hours (Chicago time) | 09:00–10:00, 08:00–09:00, 10:00–11:00 |
| Sessions counted | 58 |
| Weekday | Average range (points) |
|---|---|
| Mon | 62.52 |
| Tue | 75.39 |
| Wed | 78.56 |
| Thu | 94.4 |
| Fri | 67.08 |
Source: TestMax replay data, Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026 (58 full sessions, each starting at 17:00 Chicago time). Computed Oct 2, 2026. Past ranges do not predict future ranges.
ES is the gold standard of futures contracts. Here's why backtesting it on TestMax gives you an edge before it counts.
ES is the single most traded futures contract globally, with daily volume regularly exceeding 1.5 million contracts. This deep liquidity means the patterns you backtest are highly representative of real trading conditions -- minimal slippage, tight spreads, and reliable price action.
The S&P 500 is the benchmark that institutional traders, hedge funds, and portfolio managers track. Understanding ES price behavior gives you insight into broad market sentiment. Backtest how ES reacts to macro events and build strategies aligned with institutional flow.
ES is well-known for mean-reverting behavior during range-bound sessions, especially in the opening and closing hours. Backtesting lets you practice identifying value areas, VWAP bounces, and overextended moves -- then see how those setups resolved historically.
Large institutional participants dominate ES, creating predictable patterns around key price levels, FOMC announcements, and options expirations. Replay these sessions to study how big money moves the market and develop strategies that trade alongside institutional flow.
Start replaying ES futures in your browser. No download and no credit card required.
Sign up with your email or Google account. ES is on the free plan with the latest two months of data. No credit card required.
Open the session configurator and choose ES (S&P 500 E-mini). TestMax automatically applies the correct tick size (0.25), multiplier ($50), and tick value ($12.50).
Choose a date in your plan's window (the latest two months on Free, full available history on Pro) and your preferred chart timeframe (presets from 1-minute to daily, plus seconds and custom intervals supported by the instrument data on Pro). For ES day trading, try 5m charts on FOMC days or Triple Witching sessions.
Press play and watch the ES chart build candle-by-candle using real historical market data. Place market, limit, stop, or stop-limit orders as price action develops. Adjust speed from 1x to 50x.
After your session, analyze win rate, profit factor, Sharpe ratio, max drawdown, equity curve, and calendar heatmap. Use the trade journal to log notes and tag your best setups.
Create a free account, select ES in Session Setup, then pick an available date and supported timeframe. Replay the historical candles, place simulated orders, and review your trades and analytics. Free covers the latest two months of ES data; Pro unlocks full available history.
TestMax replays historical ES futures data with a 0.25 tick size, $50 point value, and $12.50 tick value. Practice with supported timeframes, drawing tools, and analytics. ES is on the free plan with the latest two months of data; Pro adds full available history.
Yes. Free includes the latest two months of ES data, with all order types, drawing tools, the trade journal, and analytics. MES requires Pro. Pro also unlocks full available ES history.
The ES (S&P 500 E-mini) tick value is $12.50 per tick, with a tick size of 0.25 and a contract multiplier of $50. TestMax uses these exact specifications for all P&L calculations, position sizing, and analytics.
Yes. TestMax Pro ($14.99/mo) includes a Challenge Mode that simulates real evaluation rules on ES data with 4 drawdown types (static, trailing intraday, trailing EOD, and EOD with lock), daily loss limits, profit targets, consistency rules, and trading hour restrictions.
Unlike paper trading (which runs in real time), TestMax replays historical ES data at up to 50x speed. You can compress a full 6.5-hour session into under 8 minutes, practice on specific high-volatility days, and run dozens of sessions in one evening. This makes deliberate practice far more efficient than traditional paper trading.
ES (E-mini S&P 500) is a futures contract that tracks the S&P 500 index, the most widely followed benchmark for US large-cap equities. It is the most liquid equity index futures contract globally, with average daily volume exceeding 1.5 million contracts. One ES contract has a point value of $50, with each tick (0.25 points) worth $12.50, and it trades nearly 23 hours a day (Sunday 5 PM to Friday 4 PM CT).
The highest-volume period for ES is the US regular trading hours from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM CT. The opening 60-90 minutes (8:30-10:00 AM CT) typically see the strongest directional moves and tightest spreads. The final hour before the close (2:00-3:00 PM CT) also sees increased activity as institutional traders rebalance.
The Micro E-mini S&P 500: the same index at one tenth the size, on Pro.
Rehearse evaluation-style rules on ES data with trailing drawdown, profit targets, and consistency requirements.
ES is on the free plan. See what Pro ($14.99/mo) adds, including full available history, MES, and Challenge Mode.
Create a free account and replay the latest two months of real S&P 500 E-mini data. No credit card required.
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