CME To Launch E-Mini Euro FX And E-Mini Japanese Yen Contracts

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has set a fall launch for "E-mini" versions of two of its leading currency contracts, Euro FX futures and Japanese yen futures, marking the first time the successful "E-mini" design will be applied to non-equity products at the exchange. The CME Board of Directors set October 7 as the start date for trading in the contracts pending approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Both E-mini Euro FX and E-mini Japanese yen are smaller at one-half the size of the regular contracts, and both contracts will trade virtually around the clock on the CME's GLOBEX2 electronic trading system. "Our E-mini S&P 500? and - more recently - E-mini Nasdaq 100? have clearly demonstrated that there is a strong market for smaller-sized products which combine the efficiencies of both our electronic and open outcry markets," said CME Chairman Scott Gordon. "I am confident that the same concept will enjoy similar success when applied to two of our most popular currency products." E-mini Japanese yen contracts will be sized at 6.25 million yen, and will have a minimum tick size of $6.25. The E-mini Euro FX contract will be sized at 62,500 euro and will also have a minimum tick size of $6.25. Both contracts will be listed with two of four quarterly expirations, and trading hours in both contracts will be from 2:30 p.m. each day until 2 p.m. the following day, with a 5:30 p.m. start on Sundays and holidays. The Japanese yen futures contract was one of five currency contracts the CME launched in May 1972, making it among the very first financial futures products in the world. The CME launched its Euro FX contract at the beginning of this year in connection with the start of European Economic and Monetary Union. The Merc launched E-mini S&P 500 futures in September 1997 through an innovative combination of electronic and open outcry trading. It has since become the CME's third most actively traded futures contract, ranking just behind Eurodollars and the full-sized S&P 500 contract, with average daily volume passing the 40,000 contracts per day mark in the past month. This June trading also commenced in the CME's E-mini Nasdaq 100 futures contract, which immediately enjoyed strong trading activity, with average daily volume of approximately 3,000 contracts during its first full month of business.