Eurex Turns Over More Than 91 Million Contracts In January - Record Results In Equity Options And Option On DJ Euro STOXX 50 index

Eurex, the international derivatives market, started out the year 2004 with good results. The world's leading derivatives exchange turned over 91.4 million contracts in January, about 7 percent higher than the volume posted in January 2003 (65 million contracts). The month's total corresponds to 4.35 million contracts traded and cleared on a daily average. The highest growth rates were achieved in equity-based products, with several record results. Eurex Bonds also got the new year off to a successful start with turnover of 14.2 billion euros in January, about 11 percent higher than in January 2003.

A total of about 49 million contracts were traded and cleared in capital market products at Eurex in January, slightly higher than the volume posted in January last year (48 million contracts). Of this total, 20.5 million contracts were traded in the Euro-Bund future, as compared with 22.3 million contracts in January 2003. Trading in the Euro-Bobl future rose 5.6 percent to 12.9 million contracts. The largest increase in the capital-market products segment at Eurex was achieved in Euro-Schatz futures with 11.2 million contracts traded, 21 percent higher than the January 2003 volume.

In equity-based derivatives, 42.5 million contracts were traded at Eurex in January, comprising 21.3 million contracts in equity-index derivatives, a 7 percent increase, and 21.2 million contracts in equity options, a 40 percent increase compared with the volume posted in January 2003. The top equity-index derivatives in January were the futures and option on the DJ Euro STOXX 50 index, with a combined total of some 15.1 million contracts traded. A new turnover record was achieved in the option, with 7 million contracts traded, about 22 percent higher than the volume posted the year before.

Trading in Dutch and French equity options was especially active in January. Eurex achieved new record results with 872,000 contracts traded in the Dutch options (beating the previous record of 816,000 contracts traded in October 2003), and 312,000 contracts traded in the French options (compared with the previous record of 214,000 contracts in July 2003). Compared with January 2003, Eurex achieved over two-thirds growth in the number of contracts traded in Dutch equity options, and a market share of some 13 percent. In the French equity options segment, Eurex achieved a sixfold increase in volume compared with January 2003, and also a market share of 13 percent, measured in terms of the nominal value of the equity options (the nominal value of the transactions).

Eurex Bonds, the electronic trading platform that rounds out the Eurex offerings in the fixed-income segment, turned over 14.2 billion euros (single counting) in January, which corresponds to an 11 percent increase compared with January 2003 (12.8 billion euros).