NEW YORK, July 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today that its options market NASDAQ OMX PHLX will launch four new PHLX World Currency Options(r) on Monday, July 13, 2009. The new currencies include the Mexican peso (XDM), New Zealand dollar (XDZ), South African rand (XEV) and Swedish krona (XEH). All four new currency options trade and settle in U.S. dollars and are exercised European-style.
"With these four new World Currency Options on NASDAQ OMX PHLX we are broadening the product offering to retail securities investors that continue to show interest in the growing foreign exchange market," said Tom Wittman, President of NASDAQ OMX PHLX. "Our slate of FX options are easy to understand and designed to help meet the demands of our customers that are more actively looking for currency options as an investment or trading tool," added Mr. Wittman.
Susquehanna Securities will be the specialist for the XDM, XEV and XEH. Timber Hill, Inc., an affiliate of Interactive Brokers Group, will be the specialist for the XDZ.
The four new currencies bring the total to ten PHLX World Currency Options(r) including the: Australian dollar (XDA), British pound (XDB), Canadian dollar (XDC), Euro dollar (XDE), Japanese Yen (XDX), and the Swiss franc (XDS).
The PHLX World Currency Options(r) are available through most brokerage firms that offer equity and index options trading and account for more than 80% of the currency options volume cleared by The Options Clearing Corporation.
About NASDAQ OMX Group's U.S. Options Markets:
The NASDAQ OMX Group has two options markets in the U.S.: the NASDAQ OMX PHLX and The NASDAQ Options Market. The NASDAQ OMX PHLX offers customers both electronic and hybrid floor-based options trading to better address diverse customer needs. The NASDAQ Options Market operates as a separate market offering true price/time priority. NASDAQ OMX Group operates the third largest options market in the U.S.
About NASDAQ OMX:
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with over 3,800 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX Group offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market; NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North; and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and ETFs. NASDAQ OMX Group technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX Group exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com.
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