NYSE Euronext’s European exchanges experienced continued strong growth, with a 45% increase in the number of equity transactions1 executed in February 2008 compared to February 2007, bringing the number of cash transactions since the beginning of the year to 74 million, up 62% year-on-year. Additionally Euronext registered continuing growth in ETF transactions, with an increase of 85% year-to-date versus the same period in 2007.
NYSE Euronext’s U.S. cash exchanges, the NYSE and NYSE Arca, together registered solid gains in average daily and total handled volume in February 2008 with 14% and 20% increases, respectively, compared to February 2007. Also in U.S. cash equities trading, NYSE Euronext reported gains of 32% in total handled2 volume for NYSE listed issues, 176% in NYSE Arca and Amex listed issues, and 112% in ETFs, year-to-date versus the comparable period in 2007. NYSE Arca again handled more ETF shares than any other U.S. exchange, with nearly 46% of the total share volume.
Derivatives products:
NYSE Euronext’s derivatives trading operations recorded substantial gains in overall activity during February, with a 49% increase in total volume on Liffe and an 81% gain in total contracts traded on NYSE Arca Options year-to-date, compared to the same period in 2007. In February, Liffe traded almost 92 million futures and options contracts, representing an average daily volume of 4.4 million, up 31% from the same month in 2007. Bclear, Liffe’s wholesale service for OTC trades, processed over 13 million contracts in February 2008, up 222% compared to the same month in 2007.
Average daily volume on NYSE Arca Options grew 42% in February 2008 from the same month last year, while overall industry volume increased 28%, demonstrating the platform’s continued position as the U.S. Options industry’s fastest growing exchange. With 14% percent of trading in all options in February 2008 taking place on NYSE Arca, year-to-date the platform has garnered 15% of all trading in U.S. options, and 18% of all trading in the SEC Penny Pilot program.
Listings:
Listing activity on NYSE Euronext exchanges was strong in February 2008, particularly in European and U.S. ETF trading, where both Euronext and NYSE Arca are the leaders in their respective markets. During the month, NYSE Arca listed 13 Exchange Traded Products and 4 Structured Products. Additionally, Euronext listed 17 new ETFs on NextTrack, bringing the total number of ETFs listed on its markets to 265, with more than 185 underlying indices.
In February, NYSE Euronext’s U.S. markets added 20 new listings on NYSE Group, including Hill International (NYSE: HIL), the first transfer from Nasdaq to the NYSE in 2008. Three IPOs were added on Euronext’s market in February 2008, representing more than $885 / €600 million raised.
