June 2003 has been the busiest month ever for USFs. A total of 1,090,462 contracts were traded by 23 June 2003. The previous monthly record of 903,568 contracts was set in April 2003.
USFs, which offer futures on underlying blue chip stocks, provide a cheap and efficient alternative to direct cash investing. By allowing investors to gain leveraged exposure to selected stocks for a fraction of the price of direct investment, they are ideal for hedging purposes, and also for portfolio structuring when direct transactions might not be possible for cost or tax reasons. Trading takes place under a single regulatory regime, on a single clearing and settlement system and through a single trading platform, LIFFE CONNECT®.
Key USF Highlights:
- New all-time annual record for all USFs: 3,968,230 contracts traded within the first six months of 2003. Previous annual record of 3,935,121 set in 2002, January to 20 June 2003 is up 196% on the same period in 2002.
- New monthly record for all USFs: 1,090,462 contracts traded in June (2 to 23 June). This is the third record-breaking month this year and the first time that monthly volume has risen above 1 million contracts. The previous monthly record of 903,568 was set in April 2003
- German USFs: traded 557,112 contracts January to 20 June, up 158% on same period last year
- French USFs: traded 386,387 contracts January to 20 June, up 196% on same period last year
- Dutch USFs: traded 1,046,732 contracts January to 20 June, up 1008% on same period last year
- Swiss USFs: traded 335,635 contracts January to 20 June, up 637% on same period last year
Fraser Cowie, Director of Marketing at Euronext.liffe said, "We have seen tremendous growth in Universal Stock Futures this year. In the first six months of this year we have already traded just under four million contracts beating last year's total annual volume which was a record. More and more global players are turning to USFs as a hedging tool, taking advantage of the ability to trade blue chip stocks across borders in a cheap, easy and efficient way."
