Volume on the CME's GLOBEX®2 electronic trading system soared 143 percent over May 1999, posting a record 2,830,667 contracts. Year-to-date GLOBEX2 volume reached a record 12,192,501, a 117 percent increase over last year.
Volume in equity and index products rose more than 47 percent over last May and more than 40 percent year-to-date. Individual equity and index products posting record monthly volume include the E-mini S&P 500 Index futures contract, at 1,716,821, the E-mini Nasdaq 100 Index futures, at 744,754 contracts and Nasdaq 100 options, at 77,283 contracts. Also, numerous E-mini Nasdaq open interest records were set throughout the month, reaching an all-time high of 27,779 at month's end.
In addition, volume records for any May were set in Nasdaq 100 futures, at 462,654, GSCI® futures, at 96,501, Russell 2000 futures, at 35,179, S&P Midcap 400 futures, at 19,863, and S&P/BARRA Growth futures, at 908.
In currencies, EuroFX futures volume was up 74.2 percent over year-ago levels, at 320,011, and Euro/Japanese yen futures rose to an all time high of 1,379.
Total exchange-wide open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts at the close of trading, stood at 8,303,226 positions at the end of May.
