CME Group, the world's largest and most diverse derivatives exchange, today announced that August 2008 volume averaged 11.0 million contracts per day, assuming combined CME Group and NYMEX volumes for the entire month. On this basis, total monthly volume totaled 231 million contracts, 80 percent of which were traded electronically.
While August typically sees lower trading activity compared with other months, in August 2007 CME Group recorded its highest monthly volume ever due to the onset of the subprime lending crisis and the ensuing impact on global financial markets. Compared with that heightened activity, August 2008 volume was down 32 percent. On a combined basis, CME Group year-to-date 2008 volume through August averaged 13.6 million contracts per day, up 9 percent from the same period last year.
CME Group commodities and alternative investments volume averaged 852,000 contracts per day, up 26 percent from August 2007. CME Group foreign exchange (FX) contracts volume averaged 659,000 contracts per day, up 3 percent, and represented average daily notional value traded of $90 billion, up 14 percent. CME Group E-mini equity index volume averaged 2.6 million contracts per day, down 28 percent compared with August 2007. CME Group interest rate volume averaged 5.1 million contracts per day, down 48 percent compared with the same period in 2007.
Total NYMEX volume averaged 1.7 million contracts for August 2008, up 20 percent compared with August 2007. Monthly NYMEX energy futures and options volume averaged 979,000 contracts per day, up 10 percent from August 2007. COMEX metals volume averaged 226,000 contracts per day for August 2008, up 61 percent. Average daily volume on NYMEX ClearPort was 453,000 contracts for August 2008, up 37 percent compared with August 2007. The remaining NYMEX volume of 63,000 trades per day consisted of other transactions which include position transfers and exchanges. -- www.cme.com
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