During the first eight months of 2005, 103.6 million cash transactions were registered on Euronext’s cash markets, up 9.7% compared to the same period last year, representing a daily average of 606,000. 12.7 million transactions were completed in August 2005, up 29.3% on August last year, making the month the busiest August ever.
Shares
12.2 million share transactions were completed in August 2005, up 30.5% on the same month last year. A total of 99 million transactions were registered in the year-to-date, up 10.3% on the same period in 2004, representing a daily average of 579,000.
Trackers
Transactions in trackers amounted to 30,000 during August 2005, up 73.5% on the same month last year. In the year-to-date there have been a total of 199,000 transactions in trackers.
Derivatives products
Euronext.liffe, the international derivatives business of Euronext, traded 396.9 million futures and options contracts in the first eight months of the year, up 3% on the same period in 2004. This activity takes into account figures on equity options rebased to reflect the change in contract size and restated to exclude lots in relation to certain dividend payments (please see footnote in table attached). Over the month of August volumes on this basis were up 14% year-on-year. Average daily volume for the year-to-date was 2.3 million contracts.
After the above-mentioned adjustments Equity products traded 18.8 million futures and options contracts during the month.
Short Term Interest Rate products traded 21.2 million futures and options contracts in August, up 11% on August 2004 and up 4% year-to-date. Average daily volume year-to-date is 1.2 million contracts.
Commodity products traded 650,000 contracts in the month and volume is up 8% in the year-to-date.
Note:
In response to strong customer demand for more harmonised equity derivatives contracts, on 9 May Euronext.liffe introduced new larger CAC 40 Index Option (‘new-style’) contracts. The effect of this change enables customers to trade a tenth the number of contracts to achieve the same level of market exposure. To enable accurate like-with-like comparison of activity in the CAC 40 options market in 2004 and 2005 we have rebased volumes in the CAC 40 Option contract. This adjustment treats all volumes in the old-style contracts as if they were new-style larger contracts, by dividing volume by ten.
The same rebased figures applied to French individual equity option volumes where a similar change in contract size came into effect on 20 June.
This press release has been prepared using actual volumes for the month, apart from for the two last trading days when an estimate based on the average daily volume for the current month is used. Final detailed figures for the month will be published three working days after the end of the month on the Euronext websites: www.euronext.com and www.liffe.com.
Click here to download Euronext cash and derivatives market tables
