Eurex US opens for business

Eurex US, the American arm of the European futures exchange, began trading in Chicago at 7pm CST on Sunday night, having been given clearance to begin operations on February 4.

The first contracts to be traded were 30-year Treasury bond futures, followed by 10-year Treasury notes. The all-electronic exchange lists futures and options in US Treasuries in two-year, five-year, 10-year and 30-year maturities, placing it in direct competition with the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT).

CBOT’s Monday trading session also started on Sunday night, and bid-ask spreads were narrower than at its new rival, a sign of greater liquidity. The CBOT has traded futures since 1975, when it made its first such offering in mortgage-backed certificates. The Chicago-based exchange’s derivatives trading volume was at record highs in 2003 and up 45% last month compared with January 2003.