The record was set one day after trading volume on GLOBEX for the first time surpassed open outcry volume. On Oct. 7, 1,064,256 contracts changed hands electronically, compared to 958,796 contracts traded via open outcry or negotiated privately.
The previous record in E-mini S&P 500 futures was set on July 24 at 975,985 contracts. The first time total GLOBEX volume surpassed one million contracts in a single trading session was on June 12, when 1,028,191 contracts changed hands. Since then, GLOBEX has traded over one million contracts on 28 days. The busiest day on the GLOBEX platform, not including the July 31 special opening procedure* for TRAKRS futures, was on July 24 when 1,500,430 contracts were traded.
The string of high volume days coincides with the launch last week of CME's Remote Data Center (RDC), which hosts a comprehensive new technology and communications infrastructure and is the primary site for operation of CME's GLOBEX electronic trading platform.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. is the largest futures exchange in the United States and the second largest exchange in the world for the trading of futures and options on futures. As an international marketplace, CME brings together buyers and sellers on its trading floors and GLOBEX® around-the-clock electronic trading platform. CME offers futures contracts and options on futures primarily in four product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. The exchange moves about $1.5 billion per day in settlement payments and manages $27.1 billion in collateral deposits. CME is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc.
*Note: On July 31, 2.2 million trades were matched on the GLOBEX platform, including contracts traded in a special opening procedure for Long-Short Technology TRAKRSSM futures
