CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, announced that Micro E-mini Equity Index futures and options surpassed 1 billion contracts traded across all four indices on November 12.

Micro E-mini futures and options surpassed 1 billion contracts traded since their May 2019 launch as traders enjoy the precision and greater access they provide. See why they these smaller contracts continue to be a big hit: https://t.co/j3lSLbBxMK

— CME Group (@CMEGroup) November 15, 2021

Micro E-mini Equity Index futures became available for trading across four U.S. indices – S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, Russell 2000 and Dow Jones Industrial Average – in May of 2019, with Micro E-mini options available on Micro E-mini S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures contracts in August of 2020.

“At just two-and-a-half years old, Micro E-mini Equity Index futures and options have become among the most actively traded equity index products at CME Group, enabling clients to manage risk in our highly liquid markets,” said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity Index and Alternative Investment Products. “At one-tenth the size of our benchmark E-mini equity index contracts, these micro-sized futures also help traders to execute equity trading strategies more nimbly, scale index exposure up or down or hedge existing equity portfolio positions.”

“The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average are trusted, independent and transparent gauges, which for generations have also become important barometers for U.S. financial market performance,” said Aye Soe, Global Head of Core and Multi-Asset Product Management at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “We congratulate CME Group for reaching this milestone which reinforces the ongoing strength of the S&P 500 and DJIA brands and demonstrates the crucial role of these benchmarks in offering essential insights to help investors and market participants mitigate risks and capture market return opportunities.”

“The Nasdaq-100 index represents the new industrials – companies playing an important role in our society and economy,” said Sean Wasserman, Vice President and Global Head of Index & Advisor Solutions, Nasdaq. “The success of Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures and options demonstrate our shared commitment with CME Group in bringing innovative products for investors to manage risk and meet their investment objectives.”

“FTSE Russell congratulates CME Group on reaching a major milestone of one billion contracts traded across its Micro E-mini derivatives complex,” said Ricardo Manrique, Director, Strategy, Data & Analytics, London Stock Exchange Group. “As a leader in innovation and a valued long-term partner to FTSE Russell, we are proud to have supported CME Group in this achievement since the Micro E-mini products were first launched in 2019. We look forward to continuing to work closely with CME Group on growing the Micro E-Mini Russell 2000 futures and options suite and providing investors with access to highly liquid and efficient U.S. small cap equity risk management tools.”

At their launch in May 2019, Micro E-mini Equity Index futures contracts became one of the most successful new product launches in CME Group’s nearly 175-year history. Since then, due to the ongoing, strong support of clients, index partners, the broker and intermediary communities, these contracts continue their tremendous growth trajectory. Additional highlights include:

• Year one (May 2019 – April 2020) total volume of more than 214 million contracts
• Year two (May 2020 – April 2021) total volume of more than 527 million contracts
• Total average daily volume in 2021-to-date, through the end of October, is equivalent to 2,060,344 contracts traded each day
• 21% of volume occurring outside of U.S. trading hours
• More than 340 firms and 240,000 unique accounts have traded these contracts in the last year

Source: CME