NYSE Euronext Taps MSCI For New Stock Index Futures
May 26 2009 - 10:35AM
Dow Jones News
NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced plans Tuesday to launch a range of
domestic and international stock index contracts on its nascent
U.S. futures platform.
The move is the first outside the metals contracts now traded on
the NYSE Liffe U.S. unit, with futures based on MSCI Inc. (MXB)
indexes.
Equity index futures have been among the most resilient listed
products during the sharp slowdown in exchange volume over the past
year.
CME Group Inc. (CME) trades products based on the S&P and
Dow Jones Industrial Average indexes while IntercontinentalExchange
Inc. (ICE) landed the Russell 2000 suite of products last fall.
The new NYSE Liffe U.S futures, set to begin trading in the
third quarter, will link to MSCI's benchmarks for U.S. and European
equity markets, as well as indexes tracking Brazil, Russia, India,
China and emerging markets.
NYSE Liffe U.S. launched in September 2008 with gold and silver
derivatives acquired from CME.
In April, the exchange launched an incentive program seeking to
tie the precious metals futures to exchange-traded funds on the
NYSE Arca platform in a bid to boost volume.
-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4117;
jacob.bunge@dowjones.com