New Records Set On The Sydney Futures Exchange

Sydney Futures Exchange experienced record daily trading volumes yesterday, with individual records also set for a number of its benchmark contracts. A total of 1,200,398 contracts were traded, up 23% from the previous exchange record of 972,781 contracts set on 14 June 2005 , whilst the SFE SPI 200 Equity Index Future, SFE 10 Year Australian Treasury Bond Futures, the SFE 3 Year Treasury Bond Options also achieved new individual contract records.

The New Records		Previous Record	Date
SFE SPI 200 Equity Index Future	166,173	162,871	14/09/05
SFE 10 Year Treasury Bond Futures	437,982	384,246	13/09/05
SFE 3 Year Treasury Bond Options	36,331	33,000	06/02/06
Total Exchange Record	1,214,224	976,401	14/06/05

The record volumes were driven by the contract ‘roll’ process that accompanies the quarterly expiry of SFE’s benchmark contracts, albeit outright (forward) month trading volumes were also very strong. Record open positions from both domestic and offshore investors ensured that the March contract expiry would be accompanied by significant traded volume.

“Of equal significance to today’s record,” added Mr Peter Hiom, Executive General Manager, Business Development, “is the orderly manner in which the contract roll and expiry process converged.”