Eurex Will Launch Option On T-Online On April 25 - Stock Options On Five Neuer Markt Equities

Eurex, the European derivatives market, will further expand its product range in stock options: On April 25, Eurex is launching an option on the T-Online shares, which have been traded in Deutsche Börse's Neuer Markt since April 17. With the addition of this new stock option and the existing options on Consors, EM TV, Intershop and Mobilcom, Eurex will then have five options on the most liquid Neuer Markt stocks to offer private and institutional investors.

A total of 75 stock options are traded at Eurex. Most recently, on March 20, the derivatives market listed new stock options on three German equities (Epcos, Infineon and Intershop) as well as on six Dutch companies (ABN Amro, Aegon, ING, Phillips, Royal Dutch, Unilever) and three Italian stock corporations (Assicuranzi Generali, Eni, Telecom Italia). On May 22, as reported, another eight French stock options will follow (AXA-UAP, Aventis, BNP Paribas, Carrefour, France Telecom, L´Oreal, Total Fina, Vivendi). The new Dutch, Italian and French stock options will bring the number of Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 securities tradable at Eurex to a total of 32, representing about 80 percent of the total index market capitalization.

Trading in stock options has increased considerably. About 22 million contracts changed hands during the first quarter of the current year, a 50 percent increase over the 14.7 million contracts traded during the first three months of 1999. Stock options made up about 20 percent of the total volume traded in March.