CBOE April options volume rises 39 pct from 2003

CHICAGO, May 3 (Reuters) – Volume at the Chicago Board Options Exchange rose 39 percent in April compared with year- earlier levels, the largest U.S. options market said on Monday.
The CBOE said last month’s exchange-wide volume totaled 31,678,263 contracts from 22,772,736 contracts in April 2003.
April average daily volume was up 39 percent to 1,508,489 contracts. At the end of April, open interest stood at 130,092,022 contracts, up 41 percent from April 2003.

During April, volume in stock option classes rose 48 percent as more than 20 million contracts traded, while index options were up 26 percent, with over 11 million contracts traded, the CBOE said.
Year-to-date volume rose 46 percent to 126,269,989 contracts from the 2003 January to April period.
Options volume on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> last month were the most actively traded as volume rose 14 percent to 3,632,963 contracts from year-ago levels.
In its first full month of trading, the CBOE Futures Exchange, also known as CFE, traded 8,108 contracts.
CFE, launched on March 26, is an all-electronic futures exchange offering futures on the CBOE Volatility Index or VIX.
Copyright 2004, Reuters News Service