futures trader
Futures traders undertake daily trading activities in the futures trading market by buying and selling futures contracts. They speculate on the futures contracts' direction, trying to make a profit by buying futures contracts they foresee to rise in price and sell contracts they foresee to fall in price.
futures trader futures traders undertake daily trading activities in the futures trading market by buying and selling futures contracts. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include international trade, economics, financial markets, commercial law, analyse market financial trends.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £56,689 a year for Brokers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3531). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only futures trader, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Economics and Accounting
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Sales and Marketing
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Law and Government
What you'd actually do
- Make bids or offers to buy or sell securities.
- Monitor markets or positions.
- Agree on buying or selling prices at optimal levels for clients.
- Keep accurate records of transactions.
- Buy or sell stocks, bonds, commodity futures, foreign currencies, or other securities on behalf of investment dealers.
- Complete sales order tickets and submit for processing of client-requested transactions.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does futures trader do?
Futures traders undertake daily trading activities in the futures trading market by buying and selling futures contracts. They speculate on the futures contracts' direction, trying to make a profit by buying futures contracts they foresee to rise in price and sell contracts they foresee to fall in price.
What skills does futures trader need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include international trade, economics, financial markets, commercial law, analyse market financial trends, perform financial risk management in international trade. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace futures trader?
Our AI-durability model gives futures trader a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.