CME Group Inc. (CME) closed 2009 year strongly, improving upon
November's turnaround to growth with a 13% daily volume increase in
December from a year ago.
The exchange struggled through most of 2009 with falling volume.
But the company saw its first year-to-year gains in more than a
year in November. As a result, average daily contracts in the
fourth quarter fell just 1%, by far the best performance of 2009
for CME. For the quarter, daily volume for CME's core interest-rate
products jumped 18%.
Meanwhile, the world's largest derivatives exchange operator
handled 9.2 million contracts per day last month, up 13% from a
year earlier. Interest-rate volume jumped 42%, with eurodollars
futures volume up 38% and Treasurys futures volume surging 64%.
However, equities was the only decliner in volume, falling 27%.
CME trading continued to migrate to electronic trading from open
outcry, which was down 6%.
CME shares closed Monday at $342.41 and weren't active
premarket. The stock rose nearly two-thirds in 2009.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com