The Spanish Equity Derivatives Market Has A Total Growth Of 43% in July

The Spanish equity derivatives market registered a volume of 791,703 contracts traded in July 1999, accumulating a total volume of 6,535,325 in the first semester; a 43% growth over the same period of last year. Options on Shares have experienced the biggest growth with a 182% increase. The total number of contracts traded in July was 791,703. The July volume represents a daily average of 35,986 contracts (some 1,947 million notional euros, or 324,000 million pesetas per day). The figure for IBEX-35 futures contracts traded in July was 386,873, a daily average of 17,585 contracts. Trading in IBEX-35 options contracts totalled 49,567 for a daily average of 2,253 contracts. Options on shares registered a total of 355,263 contracts traded in July, for a daily average of 16,148. BBV registered the briskest, trading, with 102,808 contracts (the equivalent of 10,280,800 shares) followed by Repsol with 94,704, Telefónica with 52,934, BSCH with 41,562, and ENDESA with 37,333. Open interest showed a total of 2,082,936 contracts, a new recorded high with a growth of 68% over the period month. The following are the accumulated volumes of trade for 1999 together with the corresponding daily averages, compared with the volumes for 1998 (in equivalent contracts in the case of IBEX-35 products, so that they are consistent with the new multiplier of 10 euros): As of January 1, 1999, the nominal value of IBEX-35 contracts has increased from 1,000 pesetas (before) to 10 euros (now). At the current levels of the index, i.e. approximately 10,000, the cash of an IBEX-35 contracts stands at some 100,000 euros, or nearly 17 million pesetas. As a result of this change, the volumes for IBEX-35 futures and options from the preceding years have been recalculated (divided by, 166,386), for the purpose of comparison.