Define ‘Mark Price’ in Futures Trading.
The Mark Price is an estimated fair value of a futures contract, used by exchanges to prevent unnecessary liquidations caused by temporary market manipulation or illiquidity. It is typically calculated using a combination of the contract's spot price and a moving average of the futures price.
Exchanges use the Mark Price, not the Last Traded Price, to calculate a trader's unrealized profit and loss (P&L) and to determine when liquidation should occur.