In March, futures and options trading through MEFF came in at 8.8 million contracts, up 60% on last year. The figure represents a record high for the Spanish futures exchange, exceeding the 6.5 million contracts posted in December 2005.
Trading volume in stock futures came in at 6.12 million contracts (+62%), exceeding the previous record of 4.6 million contracts recorded in March 2005. Stock options also traded strongly, at 1.65 million contracts, (+87%) as did IBEX 35(r) Futures, at 507,399 contracts, up 24% on the same month last year. It is the second time that trading of this product has exceeded half a million contracts in a month.
The accumulated quarterly figure was 14 million contracts, 49% up on the same period last year. There was also heavy trading in Stock Futures, at 7.2 million contracts (+70%), Stock Options, at 3.7 million contracts (+46%) and IBEX 35(r) Futures, at 1.4 million contracts (+17%).