On Friday, the CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC (CFE?) announced that trading activity in ?CBOE Volatility Index??(VIX?) futures set several new records in?January 2013, including total monthly volume, total monthly average daily volume, single-day volume and open interest.? ?
The record 2,897,739 VIX futures contracts traded during January represented a 258 percent increase from the 808,784 contracts traded in?January 2012; it was also a 19 percent increase of 2,435,648 contracts traded in December 2012. The previous record for VIX futures monthly volume was 2,734,248 contracts traded during November 2012. ??
January average daily volume (ADV) in VIX futures was a record 137,988 contracts, a 241 percent and 13 percent increase, respectively, as compared to previous year’s 40,439 contracts and the 121,782 contracts from the previous month. The previous VIX futures monthly ADV record was 130,202 contracts during November 2012.?
VIX futures set consecutive single-day volume records on?January 2, 2013?and?December 31, 2012?with 221,323 contracts and 212,800 contracts traded, respectively, surpassing the previous high of 190,081 contracts on?September 13, 2012.?
During January, open interest in VIX futures reached a new high on four consecutive trading days, culminating on?January 16?when open interest stood at a record 472,403 contracts.??? ???
Total trading volume at CFE during January was a record 2,927,613 contracts, up 261 percent from the?January 2012?volume of 811,283 contracts and an increase of 20 percent above the 2,446,471 contracts traded during December. The previous record for total monthly volume at CFE was 2,744,177 contracts traded during November 2012.??
Total exchange-wide January ADV reached a new high of 139,410 contracts, a 244 percent gain from?January 2012?ADV of 40,564 contracts and a 14 percent increase from December’s ADV of 122,324 contracts. The previous CFE total monthly ADV record was 130,675 contracts during November 2012.?
Consecutive CFE single-day volume records were set on?January 2, 2013?and?December 31, 2012?with 226,951 contracts and 212,984 contracts traded, respectively. These records surpassed the previous high of 191,228 contracts on?September 13, 2012. ?January represented the first month in CFE history that daily volume exceeded 100,000 contracts each trading day.?? ???
On?January 16, exchange-wide open interest stood at 501,559 contracts, a new all-time high, and the first time CFE open interest surpassed the 500,000-contract benchmark.?