A
futures exchange or
futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized
futures contracts; that is, a contract to buy specific quantities of a
commodity or
financial instrument at a specified price with
delivery set at a specified time in the future. These types of contracts fall into the category of
derivatives. Such
instruments are priced according to the movement of the underlying asset (stock, physical commodity, index, etc.). The aforementioned category is named "derivatives" because the value of these instruments are
derived from another asset class.