Total exchange volume for the month of February was 21,507,730 contracts (11,492,581 calls and 10,015,149 puts), a decrease of 9% from the February 2001 level when 23,740,372 contracts traded. In February, open interest in all CBOE listed options stood at 67,948,498 contracts (40,333,483 calls and 27,615,015 puts) at month's end, an increase of 38% over the end of February last year, when open interest stood at 49,301,701 contracts. CBOE exchange-wide average daily volume for the month was 1,131,986 contracts, compared to February 2001's average daily volume of 1,249,493 contracts.
Stock option volume for the month of February totaled 15,119,700 contracts, a decrease of 23% from February 2001's level of 19,617,175 contracts. Open interest in stock options stood at 58,604,091 contracts (35,911,360 calls and 22,692,731 puts) at the end of February, an increase of 30% over the year-ago February level of 45,082,623 contracts.
Volume in equity LEAPS (Long-term Equity AnticiPation Securities) for the month of February increased by 2% to 1,991,328 contracts, up from 1,956,780 contracts traded in February 2001.
S&P 500 Index options (SPX) were the most actively traded index options at CBOE, with a total of 1,970,334 contracts traded, an increase of 4% over the February 2001 volume of 1,899,726 contracts. Open interest in SPX stood at 3,273,349 contracts at the end of February, an increase of 9% over year-ago levels.
Options on the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking Stock (QQQ), continued to be among the most actively traded index contracts at CBOE. QQQ volume reached 1,857,362 contracts for the month of February, a decrease of 3% from January's volume of 1,908,104 contracts. Open interest in the QQQ stood at 3,656,791 contracts at the end of the month.
Trading volume during the month of February in options on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJX) surged to 1,011,725 contracts traded-an increase of 175% over February 2001's level of 367,447 contracts. Open interest in the DJX options stood at 870,812 at month's end, compared to 370,532 contracts at the end of February 2001, an increase of 135%.
Total volume during February for options on the S&P 100 Index was 926,773 contracts. Volume in the S&P 100 Index options (OEX) was 794,663 contracts, while volume in the S&P 100 Index options with European-style exercise (XEO), launched on July 23 last year, was 132,110 contracts traded.
Volume in the Mini-NDX Index options (MNX), an index option based on one-tenth of the Nasdaq-100 Index, for the month of February was 361,425 contracts, representing a decrease of 35% over the February 2001 total of 553,140 contracts traded. Open interest in MNX stood at 759,429 contracts, up 46% from the end of February last year when open interest stood at 520,802 contracts.
CBOE, the world's largest options marketplace and the creator of listed options, is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For additional information about the CBOE and its products, access the CBOE website at http://www.cboe.com.
CBOE, Chicago Board Options Exchange, LEAPS, and OEX are registered trademarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated. Long-term Equity AnticiPation SecuritiesTM, MNXSM, SPXSM and XEOSM are trademarks of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated. Dow JonesSM, Dow Jones Industrial AverageSM, DJIASM, and Options on the Dow,SM are service marks of Dow Jones & Company. Nasdaq-100, Nasdaq-100 Index, Nasdaq, Nasdaq-100 SharesSM, and Nasdaq-100 TrustSM are trademarks of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. S&P, S&P 100 and S&P 500 are registered trademarks of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
