Weekly Global Exchange Notes: November Trade Volumes In Focus

Global exchange operators CME Group (NASDAQ:CME), NASDAQ OMX Group (NASDAQ:NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange Group (NYSE:ICE) reported their monthly volume reports for November, with high trading volumes witnessed across cash equities and derivatives trading in the U.S. After a record month for CME in October, trading activity subsided a bit in November. However, reported trading volumes stayed higher than the prior year levels. Similarly, the number of futures and options traded on NASDAQ OMX’s American and European platforms also witnessed growth, albeit lower than October levels. IntercontinentalExchange Group witnessed a sustained period of high trading volumes from September through November. Here’s a quick roundup of the individual metrics and November performances for the exchange operators.

CME Group

CME’s combined November trading volumes across all derivative classes – including interest rates, energy, equities, metals and foreign exchange products – fell by 26.4% sequentially to 12.9 million contracts traded per day. ^[1] However, trading volumes were still about 4% higher than November 2013 levels. Volumes rose on a y-o-y basis for various individual asset classes including energy (+25%), foreign exchange (+29%), metals (+26%) and commodity derivatives (+7%). However, interest rate derivatives and equities derivatives fell sequentially to 6.2 million and 2 million contracts traded per day, respectively.

• Trefis has an $80 price estimate for CME’s stock, implying a market cap of $26.8 billion. This is about 15% lower than the current market price, which rose by over 6% during the week.

See our full analysis for CME Group

NASDAQ OMX Group

NASDAQ OMX witnessed a surge in equity trading volumes in the U.S. in October, with the number of shares traded rising by 34% y-o-y to 37.4 billion shares traded during the month. Trading volumes declined in November, as the number of shares traded fell by nearly 40% to 23.2 billion shares. ^[2] Similar to equity trading, the number of equity options traded in the U.S. rose by 6% over the year ago period and 17% sequentially to 101 million contracts in October. Trading activity subsided in November, as the number of equity options traded fell to 81 million contracts, but still about 4% higher than November last year. European derivative trading volumes rose during the month of October, with the number of options and futures traded on NASDAQ’s European platforms rising by 20% month-over-month and 14% annually to 9.4 million traded contracts in the month. In keeping with the trend observed across other trading products, this figure declined sequentially to 7 million contracts traded in November.

• Trefis has a $45 price estimate for NASDAQ OMX’s stock, translating into a $7.4 billion market cap. This is slightly below the current market price, which rose by about 4% to during the week to about $48 at the end of the week.

See our full analysis for NASDAQ OMX

IntercontinentalExchange Group

IntercontinentalExchange Group (ICE) witnessed high trading volumes for derivatives trading through the months of October and November, with financial products and agricultural futures driving much of the growth in the U.S. ICE’s total futures and options traded from September through November have averaged over 32 million contracts a month, up from an average of 24-25 million contracts traded per month from February to August. ^[3] Similarly, trade volumes in Europe also surged to an average of over 47 million contracts traded in October and November, up from the 27 million contracts traded from January through September. ^[4] The number of contracts traded on ICE’s European platform in November are over 100% higher than the comparable year ago period at 54.2 million contracts traded during the month.

• Trefis has a $222 price estimate for IntercontinentalExchange Group, translating into a $25 billion market cap. This is in line with the current market price, which rose from $219 to $223 during the week.

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1. CME Group Monthly Trade Metrics For November, CME Group Investor Relations, December 2014 [↩]
2. NASDAQ OMX Monthly Trade Metrics For November, NASDAQ OMX  Investor Relations, December 2014 [↩]
3. ICE U.S. Historic Monthly Volumes, ICE Group Investor Relations, December 2014 [↩]
4. ICE Europe Historic Monthly Volumes, ICE Group Investor Relations, December 2014 [↩]