Volume in CME’s foreign exchange (FX) products grew 82 percent in October, compared with the same period last year, to an average daily volume of more than 215,000 contracts. Year-to-date CME FX volume reached a record 39.6 million contracts on October 29, surpassing CME’s all-time annual FX volume record of 39.1 million contracts set in 1993. During October, electronic foreign exchange (eFX) products grew 136 percent from October 2003 to reach a record 160,000 contracts per day, exceeding the record set during the prior month of September, which was a roll month. On October 28, the exchange set a new trading volume record of 236,349 contracts in its eFX markets on CME Globex – up from the prior record of 226,405 contracts on October 27.
CME’s total interest rate volume exceeded 1.7 million contracts per day in October, up 40 percent from the same period a year ago. October also was the first month ever that interest-rate products were more than 50 percent electronic. On October 29, CME Eurodollar futures on Globex reached 78.4 percent of total volume, making it the largest percentage day ever. This result was driven by CME Eurodollar futures on Globex, which were 71 percent electronic in October compared with 15 percent in January. CME Eurodollar futures on Globex averaged 875,000 contracts per day in October.
Trading in CME E-mini™ index products averaged more than 1.1 million contracts per day in October, up 19 percent compared with the same period last year. This was the strongest average daily volume for these products since May 2004.
Open interest for all CME products at month end was approximately 37 million contracts, including 12 million Total Return Asset ContractsSM (TRAKRS). Additionally, Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) had approximately 12 million open contract positions at the CME Clearing House at the end of October. Open interest represents the number of contract positions which are not closed out at the end of a trading session. CBOT’s average daily volume in October was approximately 2.3 million contracts per day.
During October, the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged more than 7,700 contracts per day in e-miNY™ contracts – crude oil and natural gas futures that trade on CME Globex – and set an all-time daily record on October 28 when 13,101 of these contracts were traded.
CME AVERAGE DAILY VOLUME (In Thousands)
| October 2004 | October 2003 | Percentage Change | |
| PRODUCT GROUP | |||
| Interest Rates | 1,738 | 1,238 | +40% |
| E-Minis | 1,134 | 949 | +19% |
| Equity Standard | 93 | 89 | +4% |
| Foreign Exchange | 215 | 118 | +82% |
| Commodities | 37 | 41 | -10% |
| Sub Total | 3,217 | 2,436 | -28% |
| TRAKRS | 39 | 55 | +31% |
| Total | 3,256 | 2,491 | |
| VENUE | |||
| Open Outcry | 983 | 1,329 | -26% |
| CME Globex (Ex TRAKRS) | 2,192 | 1,081 | +103% |
| Privately Negotiated | 41 | 26 | +57% |
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (www.cme.com) is the largest futures exchange in the United States. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and CME Globex® electronic trading platform. CME offers futures and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moved approximately $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments in the first nine months of 2004 and managed $39.8 billion in collateral deposits as of September 30, 2004. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CME), which is part of the Russell 1000® Index.
Statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. More detailed information about factors that may affect our performance may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, which can be obtained at its Web site at
Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, the globe logo and Globex are registered trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. E-mini is a trademark of CME. CLEARING 21 is a registered trademark of CME and New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. S&P, S&P 500, NASDAQ-100, Nikkei 225, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, TRAKRS, Total Return Asset Contracts and other trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks that are not proprietary to Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. are the property of their respective owners, and are used herein under license.
