CME Russell 1000 Futures Contract Hits New Volume Record

CME, the largest U.S. futures exchange, yesterday set a new volume record of 1,937 for its Russell 1000® futures contract, breaking the previous record of 1,800 futures contracts set on September 18th, 2003. Open interest, which reflects the total number of contracts that have not yet been offset or fulfilled for delivery, was 2,116 positions.

The Russell 1000 Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index and represents approximately 92 percent of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. The Russell 1000 futures contract began trading at CME on April 28, 2003, and total volume for this contract jumped 244 percent in 2004.

As previously announced, CME is scheduled to launch equity options on E-Mini™ Russell 2000® futures on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005.