(Updates to add IntercontinentalExchange Inc figures)
CME Group Inc. (CME) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE)
said their volumes rose in January--the latter's climbing to a
record level--amid political upheaval in Egypt and a continuing
trend of investors returning to markets.
Investors' focus on whether operations at the energy hub Suez
Canal drove activity amid a longer-term trend of increased trading
volume. Exchange operators have seen stepped-up activity in recent
quarters as the financial crisis has receded further into the
past.
ICE said its average daily volume surged 30% from a year earlier
to a record 1.6 million contracts. Its biggest product, Brent crude
futures and options, saw volume jump 44%, while gasoil futures
& options saw a 33% increase. Currency futures and options
volume was up 28%.
Meanwhile, CME's average daily volume jumped 10% from a year
earlier to 12.3 million contracts, with 85% of month's 246 million
total contracts being traded electronically. Last month's average
daily level was up from December's 10.5 million.
CME said interest-rate futures volume--its biggest product by
contract volume--climbed 12% from a year earlier in January to 5.3
million contracts a day.
Commodities volume showed the strongest growth, climbing 37%.
Energy contract volume rose 22%, while metals contract volume
increased 16% and foreign-exchange contracts volume increased 15%.
However, equity-index volume dropped 11%.
Shares of CME closed Tuesday at $315.93 and were inactive
premarket.
-By Tess Stynes and Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires;
212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com