CME's Daily Clearing Stream Is 15 Percent Up In March 2009

CME Group's March volume averaged 10.8 million contracts per day, continuing to trend up from the beginning of the year, though down 30% from March 2008. Total volume was 238 million contracts for March, of which 81% was traded electronically.

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CME Group’s March volume averaged 10.8 million contracts per day, continuing to trend up from the beginning of the year, though down 30% from March 2008.

Total volume was 238 million contracts for March, of which 81% was traded electronically. Electronic volume averaged 8.8 million contracts per day, down 29% from the prior March. First-quarter 2009 volume averaged 10.4 million contracts per day, in line with fourth-quarter 2008 average daily volume, but down 33% compared with first-quarter 2008.

Average daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort was 587,000 contracts for the month, up 15% compared with March 2008.

The PJM daily electricity swap futures contracts, which have an average rate per contract of approximately 10 cents, accounted for approximately 14% of the total volume cleared through CME ClearPort in March and approximately 20% in first-quarter 2009. Daily volume cleared through CME ClearPort averaged 629,000 contracts a day in first-quarter 2009, up 33% from the same period last year.

L.D.

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