CME Group Reaches Highest-Ever Monthly Volume of 27.3 Million Contracts for February 2018

CHICAGO, March 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced it reached an all-time high monthly average daily volume (ADV) of 27.3 million contracts during February 2018, up 48 percent from February 2017. This milestone surpasses the prior peak of 20.9 million contracts in November 2016 by 31 percent.  During 2018 to date, there were 26 trading days with volume above 20 million contracts, compared with four days during the same period in 2017.  Open interest at the end of February was 130 million contracts, an increase of 11 percent from the end of February 2017, and up 21 percent from year-end 2017. 

Equity Index volume averaged 4.9 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 93 percent from February 2017.  Highlights include:

• Record Equity Index options ADV, up 98 percent to 1.5 million contracts, including 74 percent growth in E-mini S&P 500 Weekly options and 161 percent growth in E-mini S&P 500 End-of-Month (EOM) options
• Record E-mini Dow futures ADV, up 181 percent to 348,000 contracts
• E-mini S&P 500 futures and options ADV grew 74 percent to 3.6 million contracts
• E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures and options ADV rose 192 percent to 547,000 contracts
• E-mini Russell 2000 futures and options averaged 162,000 contracts per day, up from an average 110,000 contracts during January 2018
• Monday and Wednesday Weekly S&P 500 options (E-mini and Standard) traded an average 144,000 contracts per day, up from an average 91,000 contracts per day in January 2018

Options volume averaged 6.1 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 59 percent from February 2017. Highlights include:

• Second consecutive monthly ADV record of 6.1 million contracts, surpassing previous record of 4.5 million contracts in January 2018
• Record electronic options ADV of 3.8 million contracts, up 76 percent

Interest Rate volume averaged a record 15.8 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 50 percent from February 2017.  Highlights include:

• Record Eurodollar futures ADV, up 59 percent to 4.8 million contracts
• Record Interest Rate options ADV, up 58 percent to 3.9 million contracts
• Record daily open interest for Eurodollar futures of more than 17 million on February 28
• Record 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV, up 33 percent to 2.7 million contracts
• Treasury futures and options ADV rose 48 percent to 8.2 million contracts
• Record monthly ADV across 10-Year, 5-Year and 2-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures, as well as Ultra 10-Year Treasury Note futures and Ultra 30-Year Treasury Bond futures
• Record monthly ADV across the 5-Year, 10-Year and 30-Year U.S. Treasury Note options
• Eurodollar options ADV increased 47 percent to 2.5 million contracts
• Electronic Eurodollar options ADV grew 55 percent to 735,000 contracts
• Fed Fund futures ADV rose 11 percent to 371,000 contracts

Foreign Exchange volume averaged 1.1 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 42 percent from February 2017.  Highlights include:

• Euro FX futures and options ADV grew 41 percent to 307,000 contracts
• Japanese yen futures and options ADV rose 23 percent to 198,000 contracts
• British pound futures and options ADV increased 39 percent to 158,000 contracts
• Australian dollar futures and options ADV grew 68 percent to 142,000 contracts

Metals volume averaged 690,000 contracts per day in February 2018, up 32 percent from February 2017.  Highlights include:

• Gold futures and options ADV grew 38 percent to 380,000 contracts
• Copper futures and options ADV increased 28 percent to 159,000 contracts
• Silver futures and options ADV rose 21 percent to 121,000 contracts
• Record Copper options ADV, up more than 400 percent to 1,100 contracts

Agricultural volume averaged a record 2 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 29 percent from February 2017.  Highlights include:

• Record Soft Red Winter Wheat futures ADV, up 17 percent to 196,000 contracts
• Record Hard Red Winter Wheat futures ADV, up 77 percent to 99,000 contracts
• Fifteen record daily open interest days for Hard Red Winter Wheat options, surpassing 95,000 contracts open interest on February 22
• Record Corn futures ADV, up 29 percent to 569,000 contracts
• Grain and Oilseed futures and options ADV increased 30 percent to 1.8 million contracts
• Electronic Agricultural options ADV increased 22 percent to 205,000 contracts

Energy volume averaged 2.8 million contracts per day in February 2018, up 13 percent from February 2017, representing the second-highest monthly ADV ever.  Highlights include:

• WTI Crude Oil futures and options ADV grew 33 percent to 1.7 million contracts, including 31 percent growth for WTI futures ADV of 1.4 million contracts, representing the second-highest monthly ADV ever
• Energy options ADV grew 18 percent to 352,000 contracts
• Heating Oil futures and options ADV rose 15 percent to 205,000 contracts

Footnote: To see CME Group daily over-the-counter (OTC) notional cleared volumes and open interest, monthly OTC notional cleared volumes and monthly total trade count, go to http://www.cmegroup.com/education/cme-volume-oi-records.html

ROLLING THREE-MONTH AVERAGES

Average Daily Volume (In thousands) 

Average Rate Per Contract (In dollars)

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.  Around the world, CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex® electronic trading platform.  CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives.  CME Group products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT, Chicago Board of Trade, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and S&P are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

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SOURCE CME Group

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