CME Group Volume Averaged 10.7 Million Contracts per Day in April 2012

CHICAGO, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that April 2012 volume averaged 10.7 million contracts per day, down 12 percent from April 2011.  Total volume for April was more than 225 million contracts, of which 85 percent was traded electronically. 

Open interest at the end of April 2012 reached 91 million contracts, up 16 percent from the end of 2011.  Open interest growth year-to-date through April 2012 was especially strong in agricultural commodities and interest rates, both up more than 25 percent, as well as equity indexes, foreign exchange (FX) and metals, each up more than 15 percent.

In April 2012, CME Group interest rate volume averaged 4.4 million contracts per day, down 24 percent from April 2011.  Treasury futures volume averaged 1.9 million contracts per day, while Treasury options volume averaged 346,000 contracts per day.  Eurodollar futures volume averaged 1.6 million contracts per day, while Eurodollar options volume averaged 494,000 contracts per day.

CME Group equity index volume in April 2012 averaged 2.4 million contracts per day, up 6 percent from the same period last year.  CME Group foreign exchange (FX) volume averaged 759,000 contracts per day, down 5 percent from April last year, reflecting average daily notional value of $96 billion.

CME Group energy volume averaged 1.6 million contracts per day in April 2012, down 4 percent compared with the same period in 2011.  CME Group agricultural commodities volume averaged 1.3 million contracts per day, up 1 percent compared with the prior-year period.  CME Group metals volume averaged 329,000 contracts per day, down 23 percent compared with the same period last year.

Electronic volume averaged 9.1 million contracts per day in April 2012, down 10 percent from April 2011.  Privately negotiated volume decreased 8 percent to 219,000 contracts per day from the prior April.  Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 412,000 contracts in April 2012, down 7 percent compared with April 2011.  Open outcry volume averaged 969,000 contracts per day, down 28 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 for exchange-traded contracts, as well as for over-the-counter derivatives transactions through CME ClearPort®.  These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk in both listed and over-the-counter derivatives markets.       

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