CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) announced yesterday that trading volume in futures based on the CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®) established a new single-day record of 101,200 contracts on Thursday.
Today's record marked the first time VIX futures volume has exceeded 100,000 contracts in a single trading day, beating the previous daily record of 97,337 contracts set on March 15, 2011.
May was the second busiest month ever for VIX futures trading at CFE, trailing only March 2011 - which was the first month ever for VIX futures volume to surpass the one-million-contract milestone. May VIX futures volume totaled 993,990 contracts, up 107 percent from May 2010 when 479,467 contracts changed hands. In addition, average daily volume in VIX futures was 47,333 contracts during May 2011, a new CFE record.
CFE currently offers futures on six different contracts, including: the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Weekly options on VIX futures (VOW), CBOE mini-VIX (VM), CBOE Gold ETF Volatility Index (GVZ), CBOE S&P 500 3-Month Variance (VT) and CBOE S&P 500 12-Month Variance (VA).
CFE, a wholly owned subsidiary of CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE), offers an all-electronic, open-access market model, with traders providing liquidity and making markets. CFE trades are cleared by the AAA-rated Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). CBOE Futures Exchange is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).