Equity options and futures volumes (January – April 2019)

By: The WFE Statistics Team May 2019

In this article we look at trading activity (measured by volume traded) in single stock and stock index options and futures over the January to April 2019 period when compared to the same period in 2018.

Single stock options

  • Overall volumes of single stock options over the first four months of 2019 were up 5.4% on 2018.
  • While in the Americas region and the Asia-Pacific region volumes were up 5.9% and 8.1% respectively, the EMEA region saw volumes fall by 2.9%.

Single stock futures

  • Unlike stock options, single stock futures volumes were down 14.1% on January to April 2018. Overall volumes in April 2019 were the highest in the 16-month period since January 2018.
  • This decline in volumes was entirely due to the EMEA region where volumes were down 47.6%. In the Americas region and the Asia-Pacific region, volumes were up 184.4% and 42.2% respectively.

Stock index options 

  • Stock index options volumes in January to April 2019 were up 32.8%.
  • This increase was driven by a 62.5% increase in volumes in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Americas region and the EMEA region, volumes decreased by 31.9% and 7.8% on 2018.
  • Stock index options volumes in January 2019 were the highest in the period under review (since January 2018).

Stock index futures

  • Stock index futures volumes were up 11.7% on 2019.
  • This increase was driven by the Americas region, where volumes were up 39.5% on 2018. The Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions saw volumes fall by 2.8% and 15.5% respectively on 2018.  

For exchange-level data and trends please view WFE’s monthly statistics reports.