Exchange-wide volume for the first three months of 2000 totaled 59,312,855, besting the prior first quarter volume record set in 1995 by nearly 3.5 million contracts. CME overall volume for last month also set a record for the month of March, at 22,365,677 contracts. GLOBEX®2 volume for March totaled 2,605,558, a 123 percent increase over March 1999.
GLOBEX2 volume year-to-date reached 6,874,670, a 108 percent increase over year-ago levels.
Volume in all equity index products in March posted their strongest single month ever with nearly 6.5 million futures and options contracts traded, an increase of 41.6 percent over the prior month and 39.7 percent over last March.
Individual equity futures products posting all-time single month volume records include the E-mini S&P 500 contract, at 1,543,409, the Nasdaq 100, at 575,942, the E-mini Nasdaq 100 contract, at 604,342, the Russell 2000, at 67,095, the S&P/ BARRA Value, at 6,491, and S&P/ BARRA Growth 4,813 contracts. Options on the Nasdaq 100 set an all-time monthly volume record of 59,974, while options on the S&P 500 posted its best March with 489,145 contracts.
Volatile interest rate markets helped the CME's benchmark Eurodollar contract, already the most actively traded U.S. interest rate futures product, post its busiest March ever, with total volume of 10,197,793 - a 17 percent increase over year-ago levels.
EuroFX currency futures volume continued solid growth, marking their single strongest trading month with total volume of 452,393 contracts. EuroFX/Japanese yen cross-rate futures also had their single strongest month with total volume of 1,226 contracts. Other currency products marking their best March ever included futures on the Australian dollar (85,724), the Canadian dollar (280,818), the New Zealand dollar (5,822), and the South African rand (5,498).
In agricultural products, lean hogs set a new March volume record with 231,532 contracts, while numerous open interest records were repeatedly set throughout the month, ending at an all-time record of 68,423.
Total Exchangewide open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts at the close of trading, stood at 6.99 million positions at the end of March.
