The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Announces April Volume - PHLX Continues As The Third Largest Marketplace For Options

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange announced today that equity option volume in April jumped 70.94% when 19,567,378 contracts traded compared to the same period last year when 11,446,856 contracts traded. The Exchange garnered 14.01% equity options market share in April making it the third largest market center for options for the sixth month in a row. Market share without ex-dividend volume of 1,656,642 contracts was 13.24%. Equity option volume decreased 4.47% compared to the previous month when 20,483,235 contracts traded.

Volume in sectors index options in April decreased 3.37% when 565,606 contracts traded compared to 585,331 contracts traded in the same year-ago period. Sectors index options volume in April decreased 8.38% compared to previous month when 617,309 contracts traded.

Equity volume for April decreased 54.19% when 58,422,895 shares traded compared to the same year-ago period when 127,531,932 shares traded. Equity volume in April decreased 21.28% compared to the previous month when 74,212,258 shares traded.

Trading volume in the customized and standardized currency options for April totaled 9,478 contracts, a decrease of 26.86% compared to the same year-ago period when 12,959 contracts traded. Volume decreased 11% compared to the previous month when 10,649 contracts traded.

PHLX currently lists options on 20 sectors, among them are: PHLX/KBW Bank Index (BKX^SM); KBW Insurance Index (KIX^SM);); KBW Capital Markets Index (KSX^SM);); PHLX Drug Sector^SM); (RXS^SM);); PHLX Gold/Silver Sector^SM); (XAU^SM);); PHLX Oil Service Sector^SM); (OSX^SM);); PHLX Defense Sector^SM); (DFX^SM);); TheStreet.com Internet Sector (DOT^SM);); PHLX Semiconductor Sector^SM); (SOX^SM);); PHLX Utility Sector^SM); (UTY^SM);); PHLX Housing Sector^SM); (HGX^SM);); the SIG Investment Managers Index^TM); (SMQ^SM);); the PHLX Europe Sector^SM); (XEX^SM);); SIG Cable, Media & Entertainment Index^TM); (SCQ^SM);); SIG Casino Gaming IndexÔ (SGV^SM);); SIG Semiconductor Device IndexÔ (SDL^SM);); the SIG Steel Producers Index^TM); (STQ^SM);).

The PHLX now trades iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund (FXI^SM);). This is the first time investors in the United States and abroad will be able to track the performance of the largest and most widely traded Chinese stocks by mirroring the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index, which captures the top Chinese stocks available to international investors by total market capitalization.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades nearly 2,000 stocks, more than 2,000 equity options, 20 sectors index options, and currency options and futures. For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.