The Options Industry Council reported Thursday that the total options trading volume for June reached 170,749,224 contracts, marking a 49.5% increase over June 2005.
For the first six months of 2006, the OIC has seen a total trading volume that is 44.8% higher than it was during the first half of last year.
The OIC says it is pleased by the upturn in trading volume, especially since 2005 was a record-setting year for the council, with more than 1.5 billion contracts traded.
The OIC also marked all-time highs in daily volumes in June, adding three new all-time top-10 days to its record.
With 12,835,641 contracts traded on June 8; 11,744,258 contracts traded on June 15; and 11,642,756 contracts traded on June 13, the OIC added a new fourth, seventh and ninth-highest daily volume totals ever, respectively.
The OIC also marked new records in equity options volume for June, reaching 11,214,018 on June 8, and 10,097,498 contracts on June 15, putting them – respectively – as the fifth and tenth highest equity volume days ever.