NYSE Liffe, the Europe-based derivatives business of NYSE Euronext (NYX), has announced that it will extend trading hours in its AEX index futures contract from the current close of 11.15hrs until 15.00hrs Chicago time, with immediate effect, enabling US-based customers to trade the contract throughout their normal working day.
The 3 ¾ hour extension will bring the contract’s closure into line with
NYSE Liffe’s FTSE 100 and CAC 40 index futures which already trade until
15.00hrs Chicago time.
The AEX index futures contract is based on the AEX index, which reflects the
performance of the twenty-five most actively traded shares listed on NYSE
Euronext’s Amsterdam market, amongst which Royal Dutch Shell, the largest
company in the world. It is the best available measure of the performance of the
Dutch economy and the most widely used indicator of the Dutch stock market there
is. The index is widely used as underlying for various products including
successful exchange traded futures and options. In addition to options and
futures listed on NYSE Liffe, a wide variety of ETF’s and structured products
based on the AEX index are available on the cash markets of NYSE Euronext.
Jonathan Seymour, Director of Equity Derivatives at NYSE Liffe, said: “As thirty percent of our index futures business already comes from customers in the United States, this is a logical move. We expect that the increased availability of the AEX futures contract through the remainder of the US trading day will encourage more business and liquidity as it did when we extended trading hours last year for the CAC 40 and FTSE 100 index futures contracts.”
