OREANDA-NEWS. February 25, 2011. On February 25, 2011 at the end of the trading session the trading volume on FORTS, the futures and options market of RTS, reached a total value of USD8,512,147,548 (RUB249.3 billion) representing 4,970,221 contracts, showing its highest value since the launch of trading on this market.

Trading volume in futures contracts totaled to USD8,065,877,048 (RUB236.2 billion) representing 4,736,647 contracts also setting a record since 2001. Trading volume in the RTS Index futures amounted to USD5,680,752,691 (RUB166.4 billion) representing 728,918 contracts.

Brent Oil futures contract showed a record turnover the day before, due to the uncertain situation on global commodity markets. By the end of the day trading volume in the most liquid instrument of the FORTS commodity section made up USD179,210,903 (RUB5.3 billion) representing 158,613 contracts. There were a total of 15,118 trades.

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 54 contracts (40 futures and 14 options) on RTS Index, shares of Russian companies, short term interest rates, currency, oil, gold, silver, and sugar.