Futures & Options On The RTS Stock Exchange: Weekly Market Data

For the week of December 1st - December 5th, 2003, total trading volume on FORTS (Futures & Options on the RTS) reached 876 thousand contracts and 6 730 million rubles, compared with 906 thousand contracts and 6 326 million rubles the week before. Total open interest as of December 5th, 2003, grew by 5% in rubles and 4% in contracts and reached 4 986 million rubles and 766 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. 84 companies from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Kazan and Abakan FORTS participants trade 8 futures contracts and 3 options.