2nd UPDATE: CME, ICE Average Daily Volume Jumped In November

CME Group Inc. (CME) had its third-busiest trading month on record in November, with volume in its core interest-rate futures buoyed by the U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus and Europe's latest sovereign debt crisis.

The volume of contracts linked to rates rose 46% last month over the same period last year, with trade in agricultural and metals markets also higher. November volume was surpassed only by that of the post-Lehman fallout in September 2008 and May this year in the wake of the flash crash.

Some analysts increased their fourth-quarter earnings' estimates for CME, the world's largest futures exchange by volume. The stock was recently up 4% at $312.05, the first time it has climbed above $300 since June.

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE), which is more focused on commodity products, also reported a double-digit volume gain last month, extending a broad industry rebound in derivatives trading activity from slower summer months.

Frankfurt-based exchange operator Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE) reported that churning European debt markets in November lifted interest rate-linked derivatives volume on its Eurex exchange 38% over the year-ago period, with an average 2.4 million traded a day.

In November, CME's daily volume rose 31% from a year earlier to a daily average of 14.2 million contracts. Some 7 million interest-rate futures contracts changed hands each day last month at CME, which has a 98% share of the U.S. market.

Anticipated shifts in interbank lending rates and U.S. Treasury yields saw a surge of hedging activity tied to the Fed's latest round of quantitative easing that will see the central bank buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds.

Persistent debt fears plaguing European nations, leading to a European Union-brokered rescue package for Ireland in late November, drove traders in and out of safe-haven investments in CME's Eurodollar contracts. Foreign-exchange contract volume climbed 23% and equity-index futures rose 15% from a year earlier

Volumes at CME also were lifted by the quarterly rolling of Treasury futures positions from December-dated contracts to March 2011.

A confluence of dry conditions in the U.S., too much rain in Australia and cold conditions in Russia have roiled CME's benchmark wheat contracts, helping lift volume in its agricultural commodities group nearly 50% over the November 2009 level.

Broad economic uncertainty helped drive trading in Brent crude oil futures and options one-quarter higher at Atlanta-based ICE propelling the company's average daily activity to 1.4 million contracts in November. Energy trading at CME, host to the rival West Texas Intermediate crude oil market, rose 6.1%.

ICE also reported a 71% jump in sugar derivatives trading amid a busy month for agricultural commodities. Its shares were recently up 3.4% at $119.54, reaching a five-month high during the session.

-By Jacob Bunge and Nathan Becker, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2855; nathan.becker@dowjones.com

--Howard Packowitz and Tom Polansek contributed to this article.

CME (NASDAQ:CME)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024