IntercontinentalExchange reported its fourth consecutive month of record average daily volume (ADV) at ICE Futures, its futures business segment.
ADV for ICE Futures reached a record 305,285 contracts, an increase of 123.0% compared to last April. ICE Futures’ exchange-wide volume in April 2006 totaled 5,800,412 contracts, an increase of 101.8% over April 2005. Average daily commissions in ICE’s over-the-counter (OTC) business segment for the month increased 75.3% over average daily commissions of $275,649 in April 2005.
Exchange-wide volume at ICE Futures exceeded 400,000 contracts for the first time in a single day on April 25, when a new trading record of 407,303 contracts was established. The previous volume record was set on March 9, 2006 with 391,016 contracts. Also on April 25, the ICE WTI Crude futures contract achieved record volume of 143,455 contracts, surpassing the April 18 record of 121,887 contracts.
ICE Futures recorded ADV in the ICE WTI Crude futures of 92,638 contracts for April, following its February 3 launch. Open interest in the ICE WTI Crude contract on April 30 stood at 188,519. On March 31, ICE Futures eliminated the fee waiver for the ICE WTI Crude futures contract.
In ICE’s OTC business segment, average daily commissions reflect daily trading activity in the company’s electronic OTC markets. In April 2006, ICE’s average daily commissions increased 75.3% to $483,343 from $275,649 in April 2005. The year-on-year increase in average daily commissions was driven by the continued expansion of ICE’s cleared OTC product volumes in natural gas and power. In April, ICE introduced 13 new cleared OTC contracts.