NYMEX Board Approves Launch Dates For Upgraded NYMEX ACCESS® System, FTSE Eurotop 300 Futures Contract

The New York Mercantile Exchange board of directors last week approved launch dates of October 22 for a futures contract based on the FTSE Eurotop 300 and November 11 for the upgraded version of the Exchange's NYMEX ACCESS® electronic trading system. The FTSE Eurotop 300 is an index calculated and disseminated by the FTSE International, reflecting the combined performance of the largest 300 companies with stock actively traded on European exchanges. The Exchange currently offers futures and options contract based on the FTSE Eurotop 100. The upgraded version of NYMEX ACCESS® will be Windows-based, offer increased functionality and have daytime trading capability. Each Eurotop 300 contract will be valued at $200 times the index. Other contract specifications include: Trading Hours: 5 AM to 11 AM New York time. Trading Months: Every March, June, September, and December in a 12-month period. Initially listed months will be December 1999, March 2000, June 2000, and September 2000. Price Fluctuations: The minimum price fluctuation will be .05 index points or $10.00 per contract. There will be no price limits. Last Trading Day: 7 AM on the third Friday of the contract month. If the FTSE does not calculate the final settlement value on that day, the last trading day will be the first day before that all of the relevant European stock exchanges are open. Exchange President R. Patrick Thompson said, "Both of these launch date signify major milestones for the Exchange in terms of its role as a leader in the global financial community. The upgrade to NYMEX ACCESS® will enable us to expand our services to our overseas customers and enable us to develop additional products along the lines of our Middle East sour crude oil futures contract which is designed to meet the needs of a large regional market. The FTSE Eurotop 300 contract extends our financial product mix and is designed to serve participants in the European marketplace." Will Oulton, president of FTSE International, said, "We are delighted at the New York Mercantile Exchange's commitment to launch derivatives on the FTSE Eurotop indices, which we believe provide the most accurate benchmarks for Europe's large cap companies. The FTSE Eurotop 300 is the equivalent of the S&P 500 for Europe and the new contracts will now allow U.S. investors to trade almost 70% of Europe's market cap in a single dollar denominated contract."