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Consistent with other "side-by-side" electronic and open outcry trading on CME, the contract specifications for CME's electronic GSCI futures will be identical to those traded in the open outcry market and fully fungible with the open outcry contracts. Both electronic and floor trading will be available during regular floor trading hours of 8:45 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The product's new trading hours are designed to make GSCI regular trading hours more consistent with the trading hours of its underlying commodities. Electronic trading will be offered via CME's GLOBEX® electronic trading platform from 2:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. on Sundays) until 2:00 p.m. the following day.
Also on Tuesday, CME will begin permitting block trades in GSCI futures, with a minimum of 50 contracts for outright positions and 300 contracts per side for spreads. A block trade is a privately negotiated futures or option transaction executed apart from the public auction market. Block transactions may be executed by eligible parties on or off CME trading floors and must be reported to CME within 15 minutes of their execution.
The GSCI is a world production-weighted commodity index composed of 26 liquid exchange-traded futures contracts. Designed as a benchmark for commodity prices, the GSCI measures the level of world commodity prices. CME, the leader in index futures products, introduced futures and options on the GSCI in 1992. GSCI futures and options allow for portfolio diversification and exposure to real assets.
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 GLOBEX® around-the-clock electronic trading platform. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $28 billion in collateral deposits. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
