CHICAGO, Aug. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that July 2012 volume averaged 10.4 million contracts per day, down 18 percent from July 2011.  Total volume for July was more than 218 million contracts, of which 85 percent was traded electronically.

In July 2012, CME Group interest rate volume averaged 3.9 million contracts per day, down 37 percent from July 2011.  Treasury futures volume averaged 1.7 million contracts per day, while Treasury options volume averaged 278,000 contracts per day.  Eurodollar futures volume averaged 1.3 million contracts per day, while Eurodollar options volume averaged 555,000 contracts per day.

CME Group equity index volume in July 2012 averaged 2.5 million contracts per day, down 14 percent from the same period last year.  CME Group foreign exchange (FX) volume averaged 801,000 contracts per day, down 9 percent from July last year, reflecting average daily notional value of $99 billion.

CME Group energy volume averaged 1.5 million contracts per day in July 2012, up 6 percent compared with the same period in 2011. CME Group metals volume averaged 324,000 contracts per day, down 14 percent from the same period last year.

CME Group agricultural commodities markets were particularly active in July with volume averaging 1.4 million contracts per day, up 46 percent compared with the prior-year period, as customers turned to CME Group to manage their risk associated with exceedingly dry and hot weather conditions in June and July.  Contributing to this strong volume were two monthly average daily volume records in soybean and soybean meal futures and options contracts.  In addition, agricultural commodities open interest reached a 2012 high of 8.8 million open contracts on July 26, which was up from 6.1 million open contracts at the beginning of January 2012 and up 23 percent versus the same period last year.

Electronic volume averaged 8.8 million contracts per day in July 2012, down 18 percent compared with July 2011.  Privately negotiated volume decreased 9 percent to 198,000 contracts per day from the prior July.  Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 330,000 contracts in July 2012, down 6 percent compared with July 2011.  Open outcry volume averaged 1.1 million contracts per day, down 21 percent versus the prior-year period.

Average daily volume and rate per contract figures from 2008 have been revised due to standardizing NYMEX reporting conventions to follow CME's treatment of post-trade transactions such as exercises, assignments and deliveries.

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 commodities, metals, weather and real estate.  CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globex^® electronic trading platform and its trading facilities in New York and Chicago.  CME Group also operates CME Clearing, one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, which offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globex and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

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SOURCE CME Group