“These new products will enable us to offer tailor made trading and hedging instruments for broad-based European equity indices and European midcap indices,” said Rudolf Ferscha, CEO of Eurex. “This move will further reinforce our position as the leading marketplace for European index products.”
Eurex’s introduction of the new futures and options is designed to meet the growing demand for derivatives products on broad-based European equity indices. The DJ STOXX 600 index is currently used as the benchmark for many European portfolio managers. The index comprises 600 equities and covers 95 percent of the market capitalization of all listed companies in Europe. The new derivatives product complements the existing range of European sector index derivatives and offers Eurex participants additional trading and hedging opportunities. Eurex has offered trading of futures and options on all 18 sectors of the DJ STOXX 600 and all 18 sectors of the DJ Euro STOXX 200 since November 2004.
With futures and options on the DJ STOXX 200 Mid index, Eurex is the first exchange to offer derivatives on a pan-European midcap index and expands its product range on midcap equity indices. Eurex has introduced a futures contract on the German MDAX equity index in March. On September 19 this year a futures contract will be launched on the Swiss midcap equity index SMIM. Market makers will guarantee liquid trading in the two new products from the very start.
