In
finance, a
spot contract,
spot transaction, or simply
spot, is a contract of buying or selling a
commodity,
security or
currency for
settlement (payment and delivery) on the
spot date, which is normally two business days after the
trade date. The settlement price (or rate) is called
spot price (or
spot rate). A spot contract is in contrast with a
forward contract or
futures contract where contract terms are agreed now but delivery and payment will occur at a future date.