CHICAGO, Ill, July 1, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via PRWEB - The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 321,358,397 total options contracts exchanged hands in June, which is 11.03 percent less than the previous June when 361,180,257 contracts were traded.
While record low volatility has had an impact on trading, in an unusual pattern for June, volume was higher than May, up nearly 2 percent. Year-to-date volume stood at 2,083,091,200, just off of the 2,112,336,178 contracts traded in the same period last year by 1.38 percent. This marks the fifth consecutive year first half trading volume has surpassed 2 billion contracts. Average daily volume for the month was down 15.26 percent with 15,302,781 contracts exchanged compared to last June's 18,059,013 contracts.
Equity options volume (options on individual stocks and ETPs) was 288,321,310 contracts, down 11.80 percent compared to the previous June when 326,896,154 contracts were exchanged. Average daily volume for equity options in June came in at 13,729,586 contracts, 16.00 percent less than last year's 16,344,808 contracts. Year-to-date equity options volume stood at 1,876,930,553 contracts, off 2.00 percent compared to the 1,915,146,374 contracts traded at the same point last year.
About OIC
The Options Industry Council (OIC) is an industry cooperative funded by the U.S. options exchanges and OCC. OIC's mission is to provide free and unbiased education to investors and financial advisors about the benefits and risks of exchange-traded equity options. OIC delivers its education through the Options Education Program, a structured platform offering live seminars, self-directed online courses, mobile tools, podcasts, webinars and live help. OIC's resources can be accessed online at OptionsEducation.org, via mobile app for iOS, or by phone at 1-888-OPTIONS.
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