Futures & Options On The RTS Stock Exchange Derivatives Market: Weekly Market Data May 17th – May 21st, 2004

For the week of May 17th – May 21st, 2004, total trading volume on FORTS (Futures & Options on the RTS) reached 958 thousand contracts and 7 227 million rubles. Total open interest as of May 21st, 2004 increased by 18% in rubles and 17% in contracts and reached 9 036 million rubles and 1 183 thousand contracts.

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 8 years. RTS acts as the trading system and the clearinghouse on the integrated market. 86 companies from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Abakan FORTS participants trade 8 futures contracts and 3 options.