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NYSE Liffe, the European derivatives market of NYSE Euronext (NYX), is to introduce futures and options on the AMX-Index®, the index for medium sized Dutch companies. AMX-Index®futures will be launched on Monday 26 March 2012, followed by trading in AMX-Index®options on Tuesday 10 April 2012.
The introduction of AMX-Index®futures and options marks the further expansion of NYSE Liffe’s successful range of products within the Amsterdam market. The existing options on individual AMX®equities are very popular, and in 2011 more than 5.3 million of them were traded. These products are particularly popular with retail investors, who account for 36% of all turnover in this market.
The AMX-Index®includes well known Dutch companies such as Imtech, Nutreco and Vopak and has been one of the best performing mid-cap indices in Europe in recent years. The AMX-Index®has risen by 70% since the end of 2008, and in 2011 average daily turnover of mid-cap shares totaled just under 15 million, for a value of €107 million. The total value of AMX-Index®component shares traded in 2011 was over €27 billion.
According to Cees Vermaas, CEO of NYSE Euronext Amsterdam,“NYSE Euronext is committed to supporting medium-sized companies. We continue to do everything we can to help these companies grow by facilitating an environment where medium-sized companies can develop into the large caps of the future. We believe that the introduction of futures and options on the AMX-Index®will have a positive influence on the liquidity of these mid-cap securities.”
Ade Cordell, Executive Director of Equity Derivatives at NYSE Liffe added: “We are excited about the launch of these new mid-cap index futures and options contracts. For NYSE Liffe, this is the first of a range of new products planned for the Amsterdam derivatives market in 2012.”
The new mid-cap index futures and options expire on the third Friday of the contract month, and are initially offered with one, two and three month maturities.
Last year a total of 150 million index futures and options were traded on NYSE Liffe, of which 25% represented futures and options on the AEX-Index®. The AEX-Index®options account for 50% of the index option volume on NYSE Liffe. This makes AEX-Index®options one of the most successful index options contracts in Europe.
