Record open interest in European equity options at Eurex

Open interest in Dutch equity options surpasses 3 million contracts/ Open interest in French equity options surpasses 10 percent market share for first time

Eurex, the world’s largest derivatives exchange, continues to expand its position as the largest and most liquid market for European equity options with new open interest records in the Dutch and French equity options segment. Eurex announced on Tuesday that open interest in Dutch equity options reached an all-time record on October 8, surpassing 3 million contracts, or over 12 percent of the European on-exchange market, for the first time. The rise in open interest in the Dutch equity options segment follows record trading in the segment on September 28, when the exchange recorded 38.6 percent market share in these products. Trading volume in Dutch equity options on Eurex in September accounted for an average market share of approximately 19 percent.

Furthermore, open interest in French equity options on Eurex has exceeded 540,000 contracts, surpassing 10 percent of the European on-exchange market for the first time. Eurex has seen exponential growth in open interest since the expansion of its French equity options segment in March 2003, when open interest on Eurex accounted for 2 percent of the market. Open interest growth has been particularly strong among French and Dutch blue chip components of the pan-European DJ Euro STOXX 50 index.