ParisBourse SBF SA Derivatives Trading up 9.4% in August

A total of 13,303,693 contracts changed hands on ParisBourse SBF SA derivatives markets in August, 9.4% more than in the previous month. The total for the eight months to August 31 reached 120 million compared with 90 million for the whole of 1998. Trading in equity and index derivatives totalled 12,844,581 lots of 11.6% more than in July, while open interest was up 13.8% to 24,994,355 lots. ParisBourse SBF SA maintained its lead on other European markets in the sector, with trading in the CAC 40 10-euro future averaging 72,718 lots a day in August. Business was also brisk in equity options, with nearly 2.5 million contracts traded, mainly in banking and retailing sectors. Turning to fixed-income derivatives, August brought a decline in trading as on all other European markets, with the number of lots down to 444,633 after 634,816 in July. However, open-interest in the 3-month Euribor future was up 3% and that in the Euro Notional future showed only a modest decline. In commodity products, trading in rapeseed futures slackened after reaching a record high in July, the first month of the new crop year. Pace in July also reflected the close of the August delivery and marked pressure on prices.