FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index:
MONEP Launches Futures and Options on Europe-wide Sector Indices
Date 24/02/1999
On March 22, 1999, Monep will start trading six new products based on Dow Jones STOXX pan-European sector indices - three futures contracts and three options. Monep is the French market for equity and index derivatives; the additions will allow it to better serve fund managers' changing needs following the euro switchover. Of the 19 sectors represented in the Dow Jones STOXX index family, which includes benchmarks from 16 European countries, three - banking, energy and telecommunications - will serve as bases for the new futures and options. Together they account for over 30% of the market capitalisation of the Dow Jones STOXX. The newcomers called the Dow Jones STOXX Bank, Dow Jones STOXX Energy and50 and the Dow Jones STOXX Telecom, round out the existing Dow Jones STOXX 50 and the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50. They are designed to meet the needs of investors and fund managers, 67% of whom envisage a review of asset allocations following the introduction of the euro, and nearly 75% of whom plan to shift from a country-based approach to a Europe-wide approach based on sectors. For Monep clients, the new products broaden the range of strategies available for hedging, anticipation or arbitrage. Underlying indices in the three sectors are very volatile in the case of banking, where restructuring is in full swing, or offer very high yields and competition set to stiffen in telecommunications. In contrast, energy stocks have lagged the market, with oil prices historically low. These futures and options on pan-European sector indices will be traded electronically on NSC. Contracts represent EUR 100 per index point, which, based on current values, is similar to futures and options contracts on the Dow Jones STOXX 50 and the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50. Three quarterly expiration dates will open for futures and completed by two half-yearly dates for options. Monep plans to add more new contracts by the end of the year, including futures and options on three or four of the remaining 16 component sectors of the Dow Jones STOXX.