Market Data Permissions and Quotas
Market Data
Market data is limited in the following ways:
- Market data permissions — permission to access the corresponding market data
- Subscription quota — how many real-time quotes can be subscribed to at the same time
- Historical K-line quota — how many symbols' historical K-lines can be pulled at most every 7 days
Market Data Permissions
Accessing market data through the Futu API requires the corresponding market data permissions. Futu API permissions are not exactly the same as in-app permissions. Different permission levels correspond to different delays, order-book depth, and API access.
Market data for some instruments is available only after purchasing a market data subscription. See the table below for how to obtain each one.
| Market | Instrument | How to obtain |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong | Securities (stocks, ETFs, warrants, CBBCs, and inline warrants) | • Mainland-verified clients: LV2 quotes are free. To get SF, purchase HK Advanced Full Order Book • International clients: LV1 quotes are free. To get LV2, purchase HK LV2 Advanced Quotes. To get SF, purchase HK Advanced Full Order Book |
| Indices | ||
| Sectors | ||
| Options | • Mainland-verified clients: LV2 quotes are free during the promotion period • International clients: LV1 quotes are free. To get LV2, purchase HK Options and Futures LV2 Advanced Quotes | |
| Futures | ||
| United States | Securities (stocks and ETFs listed on NYSE, NYSE American, and Nasdaq) | • During the promotion period, LV3 quotes are free (Nasdaq Basic + Nasdaq TotalView + NYSE Arcabook) • NYSE Arcabook depth requires completing the non-professional user questionnaire first |
| Sectors | ||
| OTC stocks | Not available | |
| Options (equity options and index options) | • Clients who meet the threshold (total assets above HKD 20,000): LV1 is free. • Clients below the threshold: purchase OPRA Options LV1 Real-time Quotes for LV1. | |
| Futures | • Futures account opened: For CME Group quotes (CME, CBOT, NYMEX, and COMEX), purchase CME Group Futures LV2 For CME quotes, purchase CME Futures LV2 For CBOT quotes, purchase CBOT Futures LV2 For NYMEX quotes, purchase NYMEX Futures LV2 For COMEX quotes, purchase COMEX Futures LV2 • Futures account not opened: not available | |
| Indices | Not available | |
| A-shares | Securities (stocks and ETFs) | • Mainland-verified clients: LV1 quotes are free • International clients: not available |
| Indices | ||
| Sectors | ||
| Singapore | Securities (stocks, ETFs, and REITs) | Not available |
| Futures | Not available | |
| Malaysia | Securities (stocks, ETFs, warrants, and REITs) | Not available |
| Japan | Securities (stocks and ETFs) | Not available |
| Futures | Not available | |
| Crypto | Crypto | Free during the promotion period. Major coins and spot pairs are available |
| Prediction markets | Event contracts | Not available |
Note
The platform reserves the right to adjust how API market data products are subscribed, the scope of authorization, and the fees. If anything changes, the announcement and the product page at that time prevail. Please watch for announcements and complete your subscription in time.
Subscription Quota and Historical K-line Quota
Subscription and historical K-line quotas are limited as follows:
| User type | Subscription quota | Historical K-line quota | Options subscription quota | Options historical K-line quota |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total assets below HKD 10,000 (including accounts not yet opened) | 100 | 100 | 20 | 20 |
| Total assets reach HKD 10,000 | 300 | 300 | 60 | 60 |
| Any one of the following: 1. Total assets reach HKD 500,000; 2. Monthly trades > 200; 3. Monthly turnover > HKD 2,000,000 | 1000 | 1000 | 200 | 200 |
| Any one of the following: 1. Total assets reach HKD 5,000,000; 2. Monthly trades > 2,000; 3. Monthly turnover > HKD 20,000,000 | 2000 | 2000 | 400 | 400 |
1. Total assets
Total assets means all assets you hold with Futu Securities, including Hong Kong, US, and A-share securities accounts, futures accounts, fund assets, bond assets, and crypto assets, converted into Hong Kong dollars at the spot exchange rate.
2. Monthly number of trades
Monthly trades look at your Futu Securities universal account for the current calendar month and the previous calendar month, and take the larger of the previous month's fill count and the current month's fill count:
max (fills in the previous calendar month, fills in the current calendar month).
3. Monthly turnover
Monthly turnover looks at your Futu Securities universal account for the current calendar month and the previous calendar month, and takes the larger of the previous month's total fill amount and the current month's total fill amount:
max (total fill amount in the previous calendar month, total fill amount in the current calendar month)
Amounts are converted into Hong Kong dollars at the spot exchange rate. Futures turnover is multiplied by an adjustment factor (0.1 by default):
Futures turnover = Σ (fill quantity × fill price × contract multiplier × exchange rate × adjustment factor)
4. Subscription quota
The subscription quota applies to the Subscribe API. Subscribing one data type for one stock uses 1 quota. Unsubscribing releases that quota.
Example:
Suppose your subscription quota is 100. If you subscribe at the same time to the real-time order book of HK.00700, the real-time ticker of US.AAPL, and the real-time quote of SH.600519, 3 quotas are used and 97 remain. If you then unsubscribe from the real-time order book of HK.00700, 2 quotas are used and 98 remain.
5. Options quota
Options subscription quota: applies to all Subscribe APIs. Subscribing one data type for one option chain (multiple options with the same expiry, including combo options) uses 1 options subscription quota. Unsubscribing releases it.
Options quotas are separate from quotas for other instruments and are not shared.
Note
- Subscription quotas are assigned automatically. You do not need to apply.
- For a newly funded account, the quota tier takes effect automatically within 2 hours.
- Assets in transit (for example from an HK IPO subscription or a rights issue) are not counted toward the quota.
Trading
- Before trading in a market, confirm that a trading account for that market has been opened.
- Before trading crypto, confirm that crypto trading permission is enabled and that funds have been transferred into or added to the crypto account.