CME Group Inc.'s (CME) May daily trading volume fell 20% from
the all-time high reported for the year-earlier month, the exchange
operator said Thursday.
Ongoing credit issues faced by European nations drove widespread
hedging in the world's major derivatives markets late last spring,
leading to surging volumes at CME and peers such as NYSE Euronext
(NYX) and Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1.XE). May 2010 was also a big
month for stock volatilty as massive moves during the May 6 "flash
crash" stoked market fears.
Last month's drop comes as CME, the world's biggest derivatives
exchange operator by contract volume, had seen volume boosted
lately by political turmoil in Northern Africa and the Middle East
alongside the March 11 earthquake in Japan, roiling energy and
fixed-income markets.
CME said Tuesday its daily volume averaged 13.5 million
contracts in May, which was an 11% increase from April. A record
85% of last month's total 283 million contracts were traded
electronically.
Daily volume for interest-rate futures, CME's biggest product by
that metric, fell 20% from a year earlier to 6.5 million contracts
a day. Equity index volume plunged 35% while foreign exchange had a
26% decline.
Class A shares closed Wednesday at $277.87 and were inactive in
recent premarket trading. Through the latest close, the stock is
down 14% the past year.
-By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240;
matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com