CME Volumes Grim For June

June 2009 wasn’t the best month for the CME—its ADV was down 20 percent from the prior year at 11.4 million contracts, and it wasn’t much better for the second quarter, which had an ADV that was down 19 percent from the prior year.

The E-mini suite of products, which represents the bulk of the exchange group’s index futures, fared a bit differently, though. While ADV was down 21 percent year-over-year for June to 2.8 million, the second quarter actually saw its ADV increase by 1 percent year-over-year to 2.9 million.

MSCI Licenses Indexes To NYSE Liffe

In late May, MSCI Inc. and NYSE Euronext subsidiary NYSE Liffe US announced they had signed an agreement allowing Liffe to launch futures based on the MSCI indexes. The agreement covers a wide range of indexes, including indexes targeting the U.S. and Europe markets specifically, as well as style and sector classifications. Most notably perhaps, the agreement also includes such well-known and widely used MSCI benchmarks as the MSCI EAFE, the world’s most widely used international index; the MSCI BRIC Index; and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

The exchange indicated it expects futures tied to the MSCI US Index, MSCI EAFE Index and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index to list in the third quarter of this year.