A new front in the battle for the biggest U.S. futures market was joined late Sunday as NYSE Euronext (NYX) recorded the first transactions on a new platform designed to compete with sector heavyweight CME Group Inc. (CME).

The parent of the New York Stock Exchange saw a handful of interest-rate futures contracts change hands shortly after opening its new market for the products at 7:16 p.m. ET Sunday, ahead of a broader pickup seen for normal trading hours Monday morning.

NYSE Liffe US, the domestic futures exchange launched in 2008, aims to contest the core rate futures complex of CME with the creation of a new process for clearing trades, which lets members take advantage of existing business in related government securities like Treasury bonds and repurchase agreements. The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. is a partner in the joint effort.

A version of CME's benchmark Eurodollar futures, linked to the London interbank offered rate, are the first contracts to utilize the new NYSE-DTCC system. A slate of contracts tied to anticipated yields of Treasurys, also matching an offering from CME, are set to launch March 28.

Chicago-based CME is home to nearly all U.S. futures trade centered on key interest rates, though the bank-backed ELX Futures exchange has since 2009 also targeted CME's interest-rate futures business, with its market share rising as high as 5% in January.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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