The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that 38,778,747 equity option contracts traded in March, an increase of 38.05%, compared to the same year-ago period when 28,503,350 contracts traded. Equity option volume in March rose 17.04% compared to last month when 33,131,940 contracts traded.
Market share for equity options in March was 14.95%. The average daily volume for equity options was 1,938,937 contracts.
Volume on the six World Currency Options (WCOs) soared 2809.76% in March when 520,993 contracts traded compared to 17,905 contracts during the same year-ago period. Volume increased 48.50% compared to the previous month when 350,830 contracts traded.
Index options volume for March decreased 27.021% when 381,654 contracts traded compared to the same year-ago period when 522,920 contracts traded. Volume in index options in March decreased 11.46% compared to the previous month when 431,030 contracts traded.
Equity volume for March increased 40.34% when 145,089,403 shares traded compared to the same year-ago period when 103,384,296 shares traded. Equity volume for March rose 16.23% compared to the previous month when 124,089,809 shares traded.
PHLX currently lists options on 16 sectors, among them are: KBW Bank Index (BKXSM); KBW Mortgage Finance Index (MFXSM); KBW Regional Banking Index (KRXSM); PHLX Drug SectorSM (RXSSM); PHLX Gold/Silver SectorSM (XAUSM); PHLX Oil Service SectorSM (OSXSM); PHLX Defense SectorSM (DFXSM); TheStreet.com Internet Sector (DOTSM); PHLX Semiconductor SectorSM (SOXSM); PHLX Utility SectorSM (UTYSM); PHLX Housing SectorSM (HGXSM); and the SIG Oil & Exploration IndexĂ” (EPXSM)
The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades more than 7,000 stocks, 2,639 equity options, 16 sectors index options, options on all major currencies, and futures through its subsidiary, The Philadelphia Board of Trade (PBOT). For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.