Notional Value vs. Market Value: What's the Difference?

The notional value and market value both describe the value of a security. Notional value speaks to how much total value a security theoretically controls—it is the sum of options, forwards, futures, and foreign exchange currencies. Market value is the price of a security that can be bought or sold in the marketplace.

Market value is often used to refer to the market capitalization of a publicly traded company and is determined by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the current share price.

The notional value is the total amount of a security's underlying asset at its spot price. The notional value distinguishes between the amount of money invested and the amount of money associated with the whole transaction. The notional value is calculated by multiplying the units in one contract by the spot price.

For example, assume an investor wants to buy one gold futures contract. The futures contract costs the buyer 100 troy ounces of gold. If gold futures are trading at $1,300, then one gold futures contract has a notional value of $130,000.

Notional value can be used in futures and stocks. But it is more often seen and used in the following five ways: through interest rate swaps, total return swaps, equity options, foreign currency exchange and foreign currency derivatives, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

With interest rate swaps, the notional value is used to come up with the amount of interest due. With total return swaps, the notional value is used as part of several calculations that determine the swap rates. With equity options, the notional value refers to the value that the option controls. With foreign currency exchange and foreign currency derivatives, notional value is used to value the currencies.

Market value is very different from notional value. Market value is the price of a security that buyers and sellers agree on in the marketplace. The security's market value is calculated by determining the security's supply and demand. Unlike the notional value, which determines the total value of a security based on its contract specification, the market value is the price of one unit of the security.

For example, assume that the S&P 500 Index futures are trading at $2,700. The market value of one unit of the S&P 500 Index is $2,700. Conversely, the notional value of one S&P Index futures contract is $675,000 ($2,700*250) because one S&P Index futures contract leverages 250 units of the index.

A company’s market value is a good indication of investors’ perceptions of its business prospects. The range of market values in the marketplace is enormous, ranging from less than $1 million for the smallest companies to hundreds of billions for the world’s biggest and most successful companies.

Market value can fluctuate a great deal over periods of time and is substantially influenced by the business cycle. Market values may plunge during the bear markets that accompany recessions, and often rise during the bull markets that are a feature of economic expansion.