Futures & Options On RTS Stock Exchange Weekly Data: December 23rd-December 27th

For the period of December 23rd-December 27th, 2002, the total trading volume on FORTS (Futures & Options on RTS) equaled 303 thousand contracts. In terms of underlying value total trading volume reached 1 3751 million rubles. The number of trades reached 9 020. Total open interest, as of December 27th, 2002, stood at 302 thousand contracts and 1,2 million rubles.

FORTS members executed 8 668 trades in futures contracts, with total trading volume totaling 291 thousand contracts, or 1 330 million rubles in underlying value. The previous period of December 9th-December 20thth, 2002, showed 22 450 trades, 1 041 thousand contracts and 4 640 million rubles in underlying value.

FORTS options trading volume equaled 12 thousand contracts or 45 million rubles in underlying value, compared with 23 thousand contracts or 100 million rubles last week for the period of December 9th -December 20th, 2002.

FORTS, a unified derivatives market operating since September 19, 2001, is based on trading and settlement technologies and software that were implemented at and have been successfully used by St. Petersburg Stock Exchange for 7 years. RTS acts as the trading system and the clearinghouse on the integrated market. 80 companies headquartered in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Abakan are FORTS registered members. They trade 7 futures contracts and 2 options