Press

The international derivatives market Eurex traded and cleared over 65 million contracts in January, its third-best monthly total to date. Compared with January 2001, the volume posted at the world's leading derivatives exchange was 22 percent higher. The January total corresponds to an average daily volume of some three million contracts traded at Eurex.

In January, the capital-market products were again the highest-turnover segment with some 40 million contracts traded, 8 percent higher than the number traded in January 2001. The capital market products at Eurex were also again the world's most successful exchange-traded derivatives family in January: The Euro Bund future, with some 18 million contracts traded, was the highest-volume contract in this segment and at Eurex overall; turnover in the contract was five percent higher than in January 2001 and was also its second-best monthly volume to date. Trading volume in the Euro Bobl future was seven percent higher than in January last year, increasing to 9.6 million contracts, also its second-highest monthly total to date. Volume in the Euro Schatz future rose 23 percent to 9.6 million contracts traded.

A total of 25.7 million contracts were traded in equity-based derivatives in January, comprising 12.1 million contracts in the equity index derivatives segment and 13.6 million contracts in the equity options segment, the highest monthly volume to date. Compared with January 2001, the figures represent an increase of more than 80 percent in the futures and options on indexes and 33 percent in the equity options.

In the equity index derivatives, the futures contract on Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50, with 3.9 million contracts traded, was 178 percent higher than in January last year, and 39 percent higher than the DAX option, in which some 3.6 million contracts were traded. In options on the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50, with 2.2 million contracts traded, volume was 125 percent higher than in January 2001.

In the equity options segment, over two million contracts changed hands in the option on Siemens shares in January, representing a 95 percent growth in volume compared with the year before, and even with the level of trading in the option on Deutsche Telekom, which posted 41 percent growth in volume, and the option on Nokia with 1.9 million contracts, increasing 115 percent. The volume posted in Nokia options also set a new record for trading in this product (previous record: November 2001 with 1.66 million contracts traded).

EUREX Trading Volumes since 1990
(in contracts traded)