October 2, 1998

I- MONEP equity derivatives

September trading volume in equity derivatives reached 9,432,691 contracts, up 40.9% compared with August.

Index derivatives -which include derivatives on CAC 40 and Dow Jones STOXX® indexes- showed a 33.3% rise compared with August, with a total trading volume of 4,159,430 contracts.

Total open interest at the end of September stood at 8,289,009 contracts, compared with 11,818,317 contracts recorded at end-August (open interest declined because September was an expiration month for short-term and long-term CAC 40 index options and for short-term and long-term equity options).

1/ Options

Option premium turnover (FRF 12.4 billion, up 80% compared with August) set a new monthly record, for a total volume of 6,541,952 lots (up 45%).

A new monthly record is set for premium turnover on CAC 40 and Dow Jones STOXX® indexes, with FRF 10.01 billion.

Equity options showed a 47.5% rise. The most active equity options were the short-term contract on France Telecom with 1,912,007 contracts and the long-term contract Axa-UAP with 370,663 contracts.

2/ Futures

Futures volume totalled 2,891,009 contracts in September, up 32% from a month earlier.

II- Matif fixed-income derivatives

A total of 3,747,964 contracts were traded on Matif in September, 25% more than in the previous month.

Increased trading in main contracts reflected the high volatility currently prevailing on interest-rate markets. In the case of the bellwether Notional bond contract, the rise was 29% from the previous month and 4% from September 1997. The contract accounted for 22.4% of trading in European 10-year futures, up from 16.4% in August.

Trading in the Pibor future rose 20% from August. Participants can now shift positions from the Pibor to its successor, the Euribor contract. The first Euribor maturity, March 1999, opened for trading on September 15.

September was the first anniversary for the Matif 5-year contract which began trading on September 10, 1997. Over the year, 4,681,313 contracts were traded, setting the daily average at 17,732.

Finally, 1,053 E-bond contracts were traded between September 28, the day they were launched, and September 30. The E-bond future is Europe's first multi-issuer contract targeting the 30-year segment of the euro yield curve.

At the end of September, there were 423 connections to the NSC trading system, including 123 outside France and 102 used by own-account traders.

III- MATIF commodity futures

Matif commodity futures have benefited in full from the switch to electronic trading on June 26. This is particularly in evidence for the rapeseed contract, which saw trading rise 14% from August to September and over 40% year on year. Open interest was up 35% from August and 174% from September 1997.

Rises reflect the growing interest for the rapeseed contract among major international participants on futures markets as well as brisker trends in the physical market.

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