Futures are used for various reasons, primarily for hedging and speculation:
Hedging: Businesses and investors use futures to protect against price volatility in the underlying asset. For example, an airline company might use futures to lock in fuel prices, reducing the risk of price spikes. Speculation: Traders use futures to profit from price movements. By predicting whether the price of an asset will go up or down, they can take long or short positions to benefit from those movements.