Euro FX Contract Sets Trading Volume, Open Interest Records for Currency Futures at CME

Trading in the new Euro FX futures contract again set new records for currency trading at the exchange as trading volume and open interest jumped on Wednesday January 27. A total of 14,839 Euro FX contracts traded during Wednesday's session, the 17th day of trading in the contract. No other currency futures contract traded at the CME has come close to that level of activity within the first month of trading. Open interest in the contract, which measures the number of contracts outstanding at the close of trade, also set a record at 18,690. The open interest number represented an increase of 11,840 positions from the prior day's close, catapulting the contract past numerous key liquidity levels. The CME's Euro FX contract began trading on Jan. 4 in connection with the start of European Economic and Monetary Union and the introduction of the new euro currency this year. Meanwhile, heavy trading continued in the CME's Deutsche mark futures contract, with 41,743 contracts traded Wednesday. The Deutsche mark futures contract is expected to eventually be replaced by the Euro FX contract as the euro increasingly becomes the benchmark European currency. The CME will continue to list both futures and options on both currencies, as well as for the French franc, as long as there is market demand. The euro is designed to replace the currencies of 11 European nations. The transition to the euro is scheduled to be completed July 1, 2002.