January trading volume for options contracts on Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and C2 Options Exchange (C2SM) and futures contracts on CBOE Futures Exchange (CFE) totalled 89.02 million contracts.
Average daily volume (ADV) in January was 4.24 million contracts, up eight per cent from 3.93 million contracts in December 2012 and down seven per cent from 4.56 million contracts in January 2012.
In January, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) options and futures both established record-breaking monthly trading volumes.
January 2013 ADV at CBOE was 3.85 million contracts, down 11 per cent from January 2012 ADV of 4.32 million contracts and up seven per cent from December 2012 ADV of 3.60 million contracts.
VIX Index options recorded their best month ever with an average daily volume of 680,822 contracts, exceeding the previous record ADV of 582,022 contracts in August 2011. Total volume for the month was 14.3 million contracts, also a new record.
During the month, index options ADV rose 46 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively, from January 2012 and December 2012.
The five most actively traded index and ETF options at CBOE during January were S&P 500 Index options, CBOE Volatility Index options, Standard & Poor’s Depositary Receipt options, iShares Trust – Russell 2000 Index Fund options and iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN options.
C2 volume in January 2013 totalled 5.25 million contracts. ADV was 250,100 contracts – up 24 per cent from January 2012 ADV of 201,800 contracts and up 19 per cent from December 2012 ADV of 210,500 contracts.
C2 market share of total industry volume in January 2013 was 1.5 per cent, up 0.3 of a percentage point from January 2012 and up 0.1 of a percentage point from December 2012.
VIX futures monthly trading volume and ADV established all-time highs in January 2013. Nearly 2.9 million VIX futures contracts changed hands, beating the previous record of over 2.7 million contracts traded in November 2012.
The record VIX futures ADV in January was 137,988 contracts, up 241 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively, from 40,439 contracts in January 2012 and 121,782 contracts in December 2012.
VIX futures also set new open interest records on four consecutive days in January, culminating on January 16 with record open interest of 472,403 contracts.
