CME CME Group Inc

CHICAGO, April 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that March 2017 average daily volume (ADV) reached 16.9 million contracts, up 18 percent from a March 2016.  CME Group March 2017 options volume averaged 4 million contracts per day, up 47 percent versus March 2016, with electronic options averaging 2.3 million contracts per day, up 52 percent over the same period last year.  Open interest at the end of March was 114 million contracts, up 8 percent from the end of March 2016.

Interest Rate volume averaged 8.7 million contracts per day in March 2017, up 36 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Reached record quarterly Interest Rates ADV of 9.2 million contracts, up 11 percent, including record Interest Rate options ADV of 2.4 million contracts, up 12 percent
• Grew first-quarter Fed Fund futures ADV 107 percent to a record 252,000 contracts
• Increased March 2017 Treasury options ADV 53 percent to 755,000 contracts, including 88 percent growth in weekly Treasury options
• Achieved March 2017 Eurodollar options ADV of 1.7 million contracts, up 73 percent, with a record 29 percent traded electronically
• Reached record level of Large Open Interest Holders (LOIH) of 1,834 in Interest Rate futures as of March 21, 2017, up 11 percent from the 2016 annual average of 1,649, according to the CFTC weekly Commitment of Traders report

Energy volume averaged 2.5 million contracts per day in March 2017, up 7 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Grew WTI Crude Oil futures ADV 10 percent to 1.2 million contracts and WTI Crude Oil options ADV 27 percent to 242,000 contracts
• Reached a number of WTI Crude Oil futures open interest records during first quarter, including the current daily open interest record of 2.2 million contracts on March 14, 2017
• Increased Natural Gas futures and options ADV 9 percent to 548,000 contracts, with 16 percent growth in electronic Natural Gas futures and options ADV
• Grew Refined Products futures and options ADV 10 percent to 364,000 contracts
• Achieved first-quarter 2017 Gasoline futures and options ADV of 208,000 contracts, up 13 percent

Foreign Exchange volume averaged 978,000 contracts per day in March 2017, up 7 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Increased Japanese Yen futures and options ADV 21 percent to 181,000 contracts
• Grew British Pound futures and options ADV 8 percent to 137,000 contracts

Metals volume averaged 491,000 contracts per day in March 2017, up 5 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Reached record first-quarter Metals ADV of 512,000 contracts, up 13 percent
• Achieved 24 percent year-over-year growth for base metals in the first quarter, led by Copper futures, which averaged nearly 95,000 contracts per day, up 23 percent, during the same period
• Achieved 14 Copper futures open interest records during the first quarter, including surpassing 300,000 contracts on February 13, 2017
• Increased March 2017 Platinum futures and options ADV and Silver futures and options ADV 19 percent and 17 percent, respectively

Equity Index volume averaged 3.2 million contracts per day in March 2017, up 2 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Reached record first-quarter Equity Index options ADV of 721,000 contracts, up 13 percent
• Grew March 2017 E-mini S&P 500 options 47 percent to 697,000 contracts, including 167 percent growth in E-mini S&P 500 weekly options and 154 percent growth in E-mini S&P 500 end-of-month (EOM) options
• Achieved second highest monthly volume of CME Group Select Sector futures, with nearly 225,000 contracts traded in March

Agricultural volume averaged 1.1 million contracts per day in March 2017, down 1 percent from March 2016.  Highlights include:

• Achieved 20 percent and 13 percent ADV growth in Soybean Meal and Corn options, respectively
• Grew Hard Red Winter Wheat futures and options ADV 27 percent and Soybean Oil futures and options 19 percent

Footnote: To see CME Group daily over-the-counter (OTC) notional cleared volumes and open interest, monthly OTC notional cleared volumes and monthly total trade count, go to http://www.cmegroup.com/education/cme-volume-oi-records.html

As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk.  Through its exchanges, CME Group offers the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange,energy, agricultural products and metals.  CME Group provides electronic trading globally on its CME Globex platform.  The company also offers clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives through its clearinghouses CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe.  CME Group's products and services ensure that businesses around the world can effectively manage risk and achieve growth.

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT, Chicago Board of Trade, KCBT and Kansas City Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc.  Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and S&P are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE CME Group