OREANDA-NEWS. October 25, 2010. On October 21, 2010 FORTS, the futures and options market of RTS, saw a record high in trading volume since 2001. At the end of the main session, the total turnover of derivatives on FORTS amounted to USD6,364,635,155 (RUB 196,010,395,948) representing 4,874,966 contracts.

At the same time, turnover in futures also reached an historical high. During the previous trading day, trading volume totaled USD6,211,787,570 (RUB188,932,140,116) representing  4,695,106 contracts.

On October 21, 2010 the turnover of RUB/USD FX futures in the FORTS currency section made up  USD721.9 million (RUB22.2 billion) or 721,655 contracts, its highest value since launch. In addition, by 6:45 PM MSK open interest volume of futures and options on the EUR/USD exchange rate hit  a new record high of  USD222,277,536 (157,482 contracts) and USD6,840,176 (5,036 contracts) respectively.

In the securities section  of FORTS  the RTS Standard Index futures also showed a record open interest volume – USD55,428,117 (RUB1,685,851,720) or 16,058 contracts.

‘Yesterday’s trading results highlight the significance of derivatives financial instruments in the development of the Exchange’s market’, said Evgeny Serdyukov, Director of the Futures & Options Market at OJSC RTS.

FORTS, the derivatives market of RTS, is the leading trading venue for futures and options in Russia. Trading on FORTS started in September 2001. According to the Futures Industry Association the derivatives market of RTS is among the TOP-10 global derivatives exchanges based on the results of 2009. At present FORTS has the widest range of instruments in Russia. These are 46 contracts (33 futures and 13 options) on RTS Index, shares of Russian companies, short term interest rates, currency, oil, gold, silver, and sugar.