Nearly 14 Million Contracts Traded in February on Matif, Steep Rise in Trading in Euribor and Euro Notional Contracts

13,702,014 million lots changed hands on French derivatives markets in February. There was a marked increase in 3-month and 10-year interest-rate futures over the month. Trade volumes in Matif's Euribor future rose 19%, with gross open interest at month-end up 26% to total 297,937 lots. Since February 5, members of the Spanish futures market Meff have been able to trade Matif's Euribor contract directly through the Euro Globex® alliance, and during the month accounted for 13.5% of total trading. Sixty days after the switch to the euro, the Euribor contract traded on NSC is thus doing well, with a further boost to come through link-ups with Italy's Mif, the CME and Simex. Over 36,000 Euro Notional futures were traded each day on average, a 27% rise on January and the steepest monthly increase since August 1998. Two delivery dates are currently traded: the single-issuer March 99, which closes March 15, and the June 99 dual-issuer contract with deliverable securities including both French and German government issues. March positions can be rolled over to June at no cost up to March 8. The most recently introduced interest-rate contract, the 2-year E-Note, began trading on 29 January 1999 with deliverable securities including both German and French government debt. It turned in a satisfactory performance with 130 lots traded daily on average. For Equity and index options, European-style options on the CAC 40 index showed a 23% rise in volumes and a 33% increase in open interest. This was due primarily to new monthly expirations opening February 1 and the transfer of positions from American-style options. The CAC 40 10-euro contract had an exceptionally strong month in January, driven by the rollover of CAC 40 one-euro and odd-lot contracts, but in February trading returned to normal in a less volatile market.