November 2, 1998

I- MONEP equity derivatives

October trading volume in equity derivatives was 8,896,591 contracts, down 5.7% compared with September's robust activity, which occurred against a backdrop of exceptionally high volatility

Total open interest at end-October stood at 11,628,093 contracts, up 40.3% compared with end-September.

1/ Options

Total trading volume for the month was 5,161,501 equity options and 1,023,636 index options. Total premium turnover, at FF9.5 billion, reflected lower volatility.

Total open interest following the last trading session of the month was up 35.8% relative to end-September at 11,258,085 contracts. Record highs were reached both in short-term equity options, with 8,168,348 open contracts, and in short-term CAC 40 options, with 414,884 contracts.

The most active equity options - both short-term and long-term - were those on Axa, with record volume of more than one million contracts (892,549 short-term and 153,070 long-term).

2/ Futures

Futures volume totaled 2,711,454 contracts in October. Open interest at month's end was 376,894 contracts.

II- MATIF interest-rate derivatives

A total of 2,551,012 contracts were traded on MATIF in October. The figure is down 32% on September, when trading was particularly heavy. It also reflects traders' growing caution in view of the international financial crisis and the problems of some hedge funds. 1/2

In the first two weeks of September the bellwether Notional bond contract hit daily trading peaks of over 100,000 lots six times. The contract continued to account for around 16% of trading in European 10-year futures. Open interest in the Matif 5-year future rose 4.6%. Last month Matif SA confirmed that the March 1999 delivery for both the Euro Notional and Euro 5-year, which began trading on 6 and 21 October, respectively, would have a single issuer.

A total of 1,244 E-bond futures changed hands in October. The contract began trading on 28 September, and open interest has risen steadily. A multi-issuer product, it got off to a strong start - more promising than its single-issuer rival.

The NSC system was available 99.85% of the time on October, a record high since coming on line last April. On 26 October, there were 451 workstations connected to the NSC trading system, including 136 outside France and 117 used by own account traders.

III- MATIF commodity futures

Altogether 24,014 commodity futures were traded on MATIF in October, with particularly strong showings from both rapeseed and no. 2 wheat, where trading volumes rose 16.9% and 38.7%, respectively.

Rapeseed volumes increased steadily, with a boost from the close of trading in the November delivery on October 30.

The milling wheat contract continued to benefit from the interest of a growing number of professionals in the industry.

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