Global futures and options volume up 2.1% in 2013

Nearly 22 billion futures and options contracts were traded in 2013, an increase of 2.1% from the previous year, but still well below the number of contracts traded in 2011 and 2010, according to the Futures Industry Association.

By None

Nearly 22 billion futures and options contracts were traded in 2013, an increase of 2.1% from the previous year, but still well below the number of contracts traded in 2011 and 2010, according to the Futures Industry Association (FIA).

In the FIA’s annual report on futures and options global trends, it found futures trading accounted for 12.22 billion contracts, just over 56% of total industry volume.

Trading of options accounted for the other 44%. By category, contracts based on equity indices and individual stocks accounted for 11.77 billion, 54% of total volume. Interest rate futures and options accounted for 3.33 billion or 15% of all trades.

Trading in North America reported an increase of 9.9% in 2013, compared to 2012, with 7.9 billion contracts traded. However, exchanges in the Asia-Pacific saw volume fall by 3.1%, with 7.29 billion contracts traded.

According to the FIA, CME Group continued to rank as the world’s largest derivatives exchange by volume, with 3.16 billion contracts traded in 2013, up 9.2% from the previous year.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) jumped to the second position following its acquisition of NYSE Euronext and its subsidiary exchanges in Europe and the US. On a combined basis, ICE’s volume reached 2.81 billion futures and options, up 14.7% from the previous year. 

Behind ICE was Eurex, which saw volumes drop by 4.4%, National Stock Exchange of India, BM&FBovespa, CBOE Holdings, Nasdaq OMX, Moscow Exchange, Korea Exchange and Multi Commodity Exchange of India.

The FIA also highlighted futures and options contracts that have seen particularly strong growth since 2007. For equity indices, FTSE/China A50 Futures at the Singapore Exchange led the way with growth of 63,894% from 2008 to 2013, followed by Nikkei 225 Options, which went up by 4,261%.

In terms of interest rate contracts, 10-Year Treasury Bond Futures at the Korea Exchange grew by 123,715%, followed by Euribor Mid-Curve Options at NYSE Liffe, with an increase of 274%. 

FIA, the association for the centrally cleared futures and swaps industry, collects volume and open interest statistics from 84 exchanges on a monthly basis. The statistics are provided by the exchanges on a voluntary basis.

«