Eurodollar futures, the exchange’s flagship interest rate product and the world’s most actively traded futures contract, set new open interest records for the third consecutive session beginning on March 13 with 4,311,486 positions and reaching 4,344,881 positions yesterday. Also, for the fourth consecutive session, open interest in Eurodollar options on futures recorded new highs, beginning with 4,823,683 on Mar. 12 and reaching 5,066,934 positions yesterday.
S&P 500 futures hit record open interest levels for the second consecutive day beginning with 572,426 on Mar. 14 and reaching 577,918 yesterday. The previous open interest record was set on Dec 14, 2000 with 565,368 positions.
Open interest is the number of futures and options contracts outstanding at the close of trading each day. Open interest can be seen as a measure of the use of risk management instruments by institutions and individuals with a long-term stake in the markets, as well as the liquidity of a contract.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is an international marketplace that brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX®2 around-the-clock electronic trading system. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign currencies and agricultural commodities. On Nov. 13, 2000, CME finalized its transformation into a for-profit, shareholder-owned corporation as it became the first U.S. financial exchange to demutualize by converting its membership interests into shares of common stock that can trade separately from exchange trading privileges. The exchange moves about $1 billion per day in settlement payments, manages $25 billion in collateral deposits and administers more than $1 billion of letters of credit.
