Question 3 (13 marks) a. The maturity of a futures contract on a stock market index is 1 year. The multiplier for the futures contract $50. The current level of the index is 30,000. The risk-free rate is 0.5% per month and dividend yield on the stock market index is 0.3% per month. The initial margin requirement is 10%.

i. What is the parity value of the futures price now? (3 marks)

ii. Assume the futures contract is fairly priced. How much initial margin you need to deposit if you long 1 contract? (2 marks)

iii. Calculate the two-month holding-period return for your long position in the futures contract if the stock market index increases to 31,000 two months later. Assume the futures contract keeps being priced fairly. (5 marks)

b. William sells six July futures contracts on coffee. Each contract is for the delivery of 37,500 pounds. The current futures price is $2.2565 per pound. The initial margin is $9,900 per contract and the maintenance margin is $9,000 per contract. What is the futures price per pound that would lead to a margin call? (3 marks)