CME Group Inc.'s (CME) daily trading volume rose 1.7% in April,
the exchange operator said Tuesday, as surging commodities and
metals activity was tempered by muted trading of other
products.
The world's biggest derivatives exchange operator by contract
volume has seen volume boosted in recent months by political
turmoil in Northern Africa and the Middle East alongside the March
11 earthquake in Japan, roiling energy and fixed-income markets.
CME has opted out of the latest round of consolidation in favor of
focusing on its current business, which is growing.
CME said Tuesday its daily volume averaged 12.1 million
contracts in April, up 1.7% from a year earlier, but down 16% from
March. About 83% of last month's total 243 million contracts were
traded electronically.
Daily volume for interest-rate futures, CME's biggest product by
that metric, increased 2.3% from a year earlier to 5.7 million
contracts a day. Commodities contract daily volume jumped 44% while
metals saw a 63% surge.
But equity index volume dropped 14%, alongside respective
declines of 3.9% and 5.5% in energy and FX.
Class A shares closed Monday at $297.14 and were inactive
premarket.
-By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240;
matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com