August Volume At The CME Increases As E-MINI S&P 500 Monthly Futures Volume Pierces The One Million Contract Mark

Trading activity at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) increased 12.7 percent over the prior month's level as volume in all equity index contracts increased, including a new monthly record in the E-mini S&P 500 contract which for the first time surpassed the one million contract level. A total of 17,795,437 contracts traded during August. In the E-mini S&P 500 contract, futures volume totaled 1,064,672, a 20.5 percent increased from the prior month and a 131.3 percent increase over the same period last year. The main S&P 500 contract also saw volume increase - up 25 percent last month compared to July with total futures activity of 2,199,826 contracts. Other index products setting all-time monthly records were the E-mini Nasdaq futures at 83,476, Nasdaq 100 options at 18,631, E-mini S&P options at 5,928, and GSCI futures at 89,715. Index products setting August records include Nasdaq 100 futures at 186,906 and Russell 2000 futures at 18,554. In agriculture markets, new August records were set in Lean Hog futures at 167,787, Lean Hog options at 16,040 contracts, BFP Milk futures at 6,431, and BFP milk options at 1,892. Currency products marking their best August ever include Australian dollar futures at 54,651, New Zealand dollar futures at 2,169 and South African rand futures at 4,477. Trading volume in the CME's GLOBEX®2 electronic trading system continued to post double-digit growth rates, with August volume totaling 1,497,083 contracts, a 41.4 percent increase over the same period last year. Year to date, GLOBEX2 volume is up 66.6 percent over the same period last year.