Eurex: Second-Best Monthly Volume With 36.7 Million Contracts Traded In November

The month of November was a record month for the derivatives market, Eurex, in many respects. With a volume of 36.7 million contracts traded, Eurex achieved the second-highest monthly volume ever posted by a derivatives exchange, after 38.4 million contracts in June 1999. The November trading volume is over 93 percent higher than the figure recorded in the same month of last year. The Bund future was the world's most heavily traded futures contract again in November, with about 12.7 million contracts traded at Eurex. Trading in the Bund future increased 91 percent year on year. Eurex set a new record in options on the Bund future: over 3.3 million contracts were traded in November, exceeding the 3 million contract mark for the first time and more than quadrupling the number traded during the same month of last year (about 850,000 contracts). Trading in the Bobl future has also grown substantially, with over 5.2 million contracts traded, a 134 percent increase over the November 1998 figure. In index derivatives, Eurex posted its second-best monthly turnover to date, with more than 6.4 million contracts traded in November, after 6.8 million contracts in September 1999. Eurex also set a new record in DAX option trading, with about 3.4 million contracts traded, beating the previous record of 3.2 million contracts posted in August 1998. Further increases were also recorded in derivatives on the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 index ; about 1.3 million futures and options changed hands in November 1999, topping the previous peak achieved in September 1999.