The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that total options trading volume in July was 305,772,164 contracts, down 16.52 percent compared to July 2008 volume of 366,270,867 contracts—the third highest monthly total on record.
Daily trading volume for July 2009 averaged 13,898,735 contracts compared to 16,648,676 contracts each day in July 2008, which equals a 16.52 percent decrease. Year-to-date trading volume for July stood at 2,121,088,367 contracts compared to the same point last year when 2,102,450,407 contracts were traded, representing a .87 percent increase. Year-to-date trading volume averaged 14,528,003 contracts each day through July, 1.58 percent greater than the 14,302,384 contracts averaged each day for the same period last year.
July 2009 trading volume ranks as the tenth highest monthly total on record, and the second highest July volume.
OIC also reported that equity options volume in July came in at 285,749,752 contracts, a decrease of 15.44 percent over the 337,942,932 contracts exchanged during the same period last year. Daily equity options volume had an average of 12,988,625 contracts per day in July, which is 15.44 percent less than the same period last year when 15,361,042 contracts were averaged each day. Year-to-date equity options stood at 1,982,777,934 contracts, representing an increase of 2.30 percent compared to the same point last year when 1,938,252,685 contracts were traded.