October Equity Index Product Review

*Through October 31, 2021

• Equity Index futures and options volume averaged 5.4 million contracts per day in October 2021 (-1% vs. Sep 21)
• Equity Index open interest averaged 8.8 million contracts per day for the month of October 2021 (-2% vs. Sep 21)

• Bitcoin futures and options: October ADV was 12.7K, an increase of 67% vs. Sep 2021, and open interest averaged 12.7K. OI reached a record 17,433 on October 25, equivalent to nearly 87.2K bitcoin. Nearly 51.4K Bitcoin options have traded since their launch in early 2020 for a notional value of $5.5B. October average OI was 1.2K (+8% vs. Sep-21), an average daily value of nearly $344M (+42% vs. Sep 2021). 

• Micro Bitcoin futures: On May 3, CME Group launched Micro Bitcoin futures; over 2.7M contracts have traded since launch. The futures are 1/10 of a bitcoin and settled to the CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. October ADV was 27.2K (+31% vs Sep 21) and OI averaged 53.8K (+105% vs. Sep 21). Record open interest occurred on October 26 at 65,656 contracts.

• To learn more, please visit the following:
  • Micro Bitcoin futures landing page
  • Micro Bitcoin futures FAQ
  • Micro Bitcoin futures fact card

• Ether futures: CME Group launched Ether futures on February 8, 2021. The contract is cash-settled and based on the regulated CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate. Nearly 676K Ether futures contracts have traded since launch (equivalent to 33.8M ether), with an ADV of 5.5K (equivalent to 273K ether) in October.
  
  Please visit the following for further detail: 
  • Ether futures landing page
  • Ether futures FAQ
  • Ether futures fact card

• Micro E-mini futures: Over 979M contracts have traded since launch. ADV in October was 2.1M across the four indices (+1% vs. Oct 20). Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures continue to contribute the greatest ADV among the four products at 933K in September.

View more information on Micro E-mini futures.

• Micro E-mini options: CME Group launched Micro E-mini options on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 indices August 31, 2020. Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 options continue to gain ground against their Micro E-mini S&P 500 option counterpart in terms of volume contribution. Over a year later, combined contracts traded since launch reached nearly 2.5M in October with an ADV of 13K (+12% vs Sep 21).

• For more information, please visit the following:
  • Micro E-mini options landing page
  • Micro E-mini options FAQ

• E-mini S&P 500 ESG futures: Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) is an investment theme that has continued to gain attention and implementation over the last several years, and the need for capitally efficient ESG solutions has grown. S&P 500 ESG futures contracts allow market participants to gain price exposure to an index that closely tracks the performance of the S&P 500, while adhering to ESG principles. October ADV was 602, with open interest averaging 14.8K.

• E-mini S&P Europe 350 ESG futures: Launched May 24, 2021, E-mini S&P Europe 350 ESG futures are cash-settled to the S&P Europe 350 ESG index. The index is Pan-European, covering developed markets across over 15 different countries. The four largest individual country weights as of April 8, 2021 are UK 23.58%, France 18.08%, Switzerland 17,16% and Germany 14.90%. The index is based on same robust ESG index methodology as the one applied to S&P 500 ESG Index and is right-sized in terms of number of constituents at around 230. Since launch, over 1.3K futures have traded.
  
  Please visit the following for further detail:
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures landing page
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures FAQ
  • E-mini S&P Europe 350 futures fact card

• Total Return Futures: CME Group launched the Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures on September 21, 2020. A record OI of 146,063 occurred on October 29. October ADV was 1,414 and OI averaged 141,875 (+3% vs. Sep 21).
  
  Please visit the following for further detail:
  • AIR Total Return futures landing page
  • AIR Total Return futures FAQ

• Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures expansion:

  • FTSE 100 Adjusted Interest Rate (AIR) Total Return futures: On June 7, CME Group launched AIR Total Return futures on the FTSE 100 Index. The new futures will give total return exposure with an overnight floating rate built in using SONIA as the financing reference rate.
    
    To learn more, please visit the following:
    • FTSE 100 AIR futures landing page
    • FTSE 100 AIR futures FAQ
    • FTSE 100 AIR futures fact card
       
  • Nasdaq-100, Russell 1000, Russell 2000, and DJIA AIR Total Return futures: : Launched July 26, 2021, US Indices total return equity index exposure with an enhanced floating rate are now accessible.
    
    Learn more here:
    • US AIR futures landing page
       
  • Minimum block quantity: Reduced to 250 from 500 on S&P 500 Nasdaq-100 and DJIA TRFs effective July 26, 2021.

• S&P 500 Dividend Index futures: Quarterly and annual S&P 500 Dividend Index futures provide efficient tools to hedge or express a view on the U.S. dividend market. S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures reached a record OI on October15 at 245,414. October ADV was 3K (+32% vs. Sep-21) and OI averaged 241.7K (+1% vs. Sep 21).

• Micro Ether futures: CME Group announced the launch of Micro Ether futures, coming December 6, pending regulatory review. Sized at 1/10 of one ether, the contract provides an efficient, cost-effective way to manage exposure to one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Enjoy the same features of the larger Ether futures (ETH) at a fraction of the size, settled to the regulated CME CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.
  
  Please visit the following for further detail: 
  • Micro Ether futures landing page
  • Micro Ether futures FAQ
  • Micro Ether futures fact card