London derivatives exchange Liffe is preparing to launch a series of European government bond futures as it hits a new record for Long Gilt futures.
The exchange, which was acquired as part of Intercontinental Exchange’s takeover of NYSE Euronext late last year, achieved a new daily volume record of 905,515 in Long Gilt Futures on 27 May, over 90,000 more than its previous record in November 2012.
Liffe also confirmed plans to launch a wider range of government bond futures, with German, Swiss, Italian and Spanish products set to be added in the near future.
These will provide market participants with cross-product margin and capital efficiencies for interest rates and the facility to trade various government bond strategies, such Bunds and Gilts or Schatz and Euribor, on a single platform.
On 31 March, Liffe launched its Ultra Long Gilt futures and said it has experienced strong trading volumes, with a total of 24,819 contracts traded since launch.
The Bank of England is expected to begin raising interest rates over the next year because of improving economic conditions, which could affect Gilt futures trading.