Futures & Options On The RTS Stock Exchange: Year 2002 In Review

In year 2002 526 trades were executed on FORTS (Futures & Options on the RTS), the derivatives section of the RTS Stock Exchange. Total trading volume reached 22 million contracts or 94,9 billion dollars in underlying value. Daily average volume increased 3,1 times in terms of contracts (to 87,5 thousand contracts) and 3,43 times in terms of underlying value (378 million rubles). Daily trading activity skyrocketed 2.9 times, from 746 to 2 168 trades a day. Total open interest as of December 31, 2002, stood at 1 191 million rubles or 292 thousand contracts, compared with 514 million rubles and 83 thousand contacts as of December 29th, 2001.

FORTS participants executed in 2002 531 thousand trades in futures contracts. Futures contracts trading volume reached 21,7 million contracts with 93,5 billion rubles in underlying value. Daily average volume grew 3,4 times in rubles and 3,1 times in contracts totaling 83 thousand contracts and 514 million rubles.

In options daily average trading activity increased 1,5 times to 84 trades per day; daily average trading volume in rubles skyrocketed 5,5 times to 5,5 million rubles (in terms of underlying value the average activity grew to 1,4 thousand contracts a day). In 2002 options traded the total of 14 711 times, 357 thousand contracts with total underlying value 1,5 billion rubles changed hands.

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. 82 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.