The immediate or nearby time horizon of a market for a specific investment/ security, commodity, etc. Generally speaking, it is a span of time that defines a short run stretch in a given market, and reflects its short-term fundamentals. The short-end of the market also constitutes the supply and demand trends at a specific interval in the short run, and all relevant indicators of a market’s reality including liquidity, risk appetite, inflation and interest rate expectations, etc.

For example, a steeper curve of interest rates (yield curve) implies that the short end of the market with maturities of 1-2 years will reflect currently slow economic activity, low inflation expectations, and, lower interest rates. In such an environment, the cost of borrowing is higher than the lending rates. The opposite is true and holds under normal market conditions.

In options and futures markets, it is a situation (inverted market) where the prices of options and futures are positively related to the closeness of delivery dates. Therefore, those prices increase as delivery dates get more distant. Differences between early and later delivery prices depend on the size of demand for early delivery.