How do futures markets differ from stock markets?
Futures markets are used for risk transference in a wide variety of underlying markets. Stocks are ownership shares in a company that issues them. Stock exchanges support the capital formation process by providing a secondary market for trading shares. In the early 1980s, stock index futures began trading on U.S. futures exchanges. The creation of this market extended the risk transference uses of futures markets to those who buy, sell and hold equities.
