French Derivatives Open Interest Up in a Traditionally Calm Month

A total 14,064,242 contracts changed hands on French derivatives markets Matif and Monep in May (21 trading days), a decline of 19.8% on April. Open interest on Monep rose 10% on April. Trade in index and equity options fell back, with volumes down 20.4% on April to 13,278,822 lots. The only rise came for long-term equity options with post-dividend expiration dates, where the number of lots traded rose nearly 60% to 798,305 lots. Trading in futures on sector indexes - a product line unique in Europe and set to expand - got off the ground in May, with interest focusing on telecoms. Contracts totalling a nominal EUR6,000,000 changed hands. May is a pre-rollover month for interest-rate contracts, and trade eased 6.7%. Spreads were nonetheless traded in anticipation of the rollover of positions to September. Open interest in the Euro Notional, a multi-issuer contract, rose nearly 17% on April, for a gross open position of 254,032 lots. Open interest in the 3-month Euribor contract edged up 2%. In commodities, the launch of a new rapeseed option on May 28 was welcomed with interest in the first trading days, with a wide range of prices quoted through to the May 2000 delivery. Open interest stood at 2,300 tons.