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Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has reported unprecedented trading volumes for October 2024, with 209 million contracts traded across its futures and options markets, surpassing its previous record set during the market volatility of March 2020.
The milestone reflects heightened trading activity across multiple asset classes, with commodities and energy markets leading the surge at 117 million and 108 million contracts respectively. Interest rate derivatives also reached an all-time high of 85 million contracts.
"The extent of trading activity during October highlights the depth, breadth and liquidity of the global exchange network we have built over the last two decades and the unique role that benchmarks such as Brent and Euribor play in underpinning the management of risk across markets," said Trabue Bland, SVP of Futures Markets at ICE.
Brent crude futures and options, which serve as the global oil pricing benchmark for approximately 75% of internationally traded crude, saw record volumes of 38.2 million contracts. Simultaneously, Euribor derivatives, used for managing euro interest rate risk, reached a new high of 50.5 million contracts.
The surge in trading activity comes amid broader market uncertainty, with traders actively managing risk across ICE's benchmark contracts.
