CME May Trading Volume Rises 17 Percent - E-Mini S&P 500 Soars Nearly 190 Percent As Index Products Set May Record

Trading volume on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) in May rose nearly 17 percent above year-ago levels to 17,867,782. Volume in equity index products set a May record of 3,557,274, surpassing May 1998 volume by 14 percent. The all-time volume record for E-mini S&P 500 futures was set at 843,020. E-mini S&P 500 futures volume rose nearly 190 percent in May, with year-to-date volume up nearly 173 percent. E-mini S&P 500 options set a new May record of 5,914, as year-to- date volume grew by 334 percent. Electronically traded volume on the GLOBEX2 system totaled 1,164,086, an increase of more than 57 percent over May 1998. Year-to-date GLOBEX2 volume totaled 5,616,689, up nearly 43 percent. New May records were set in Nasdaq 100 futures at 172,840, Nasdaq 100 options at 14,335, Russell 2000 futures at 21,847 and S&P/BARRA Value futures at 805. S&P MidCap 400 options set a new all-time monthly volume record at 1,075. Two currency products set new all-time records in May: New Zealand dollar futures at 12,267 and South African rand futures at 4,851. Australian dollar futures set a new May record at 56,400. For the first five months of the year, trading in Australian dollar futures has risen nearly 53 percent. Among agricultural products, basic formula price (BFP) milk futures set May volume records for futures, at 3,603, and options, at 1,127. Lean hog options also notched a new May record at 16,303. Butter futures and options set all-time records at 490 and 226, respectively. Open interest, the number of contracts outstanding at the close up trading, stood at 8,776,183 at month's end, a rise of nearly 10 percent since last month.