OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 March 2009 was announced, that March 17, 2009 saw new trading volume and market participants’ activity hit record highs  on FORTS, RTS derivatives section.

By the end of the main trading session the trading volume in the RTS Index futures reached 832,589 contracts. The previous record was set on October 9, 2008 when the trading volume in this instrument totalled 717,806 contracts.

On March 17, 2009 FORTS members executed  a record number of trades – 309,744 (not including the evening trading session). The previous record was reported on March 11 when the number of trades on FORTS reached 307,250.

Specifically, 194,607 trades were made with the RTS Index futures contract. The previous record was registered on March 11, 2009, with the number of trades in this instrument hitting 191,398. In addition, a record trading volume (in money terms) in the Brent futures contract was registered in the FORTS commodity section. By the end of the main trading session the trading volume reached 1,176,613,423.96 roubles or 33,773,075.53 USD. The previous record high was reported on March 12, 2009 when the trading volume in the instrument hit 1,104,904,125.13 roubles or 31,464,048.85 USD.

The open interest in the Brent futures contract also reached a record high of 33,376 contracts. The previous record was set on March 5, 2009, with 28,430 contracts.

FORTS members handled  2,954 trades in this instrument. The previous record was hit on February 26, 2009  when FORTS members executed 2,558 trades in the Brent futures contract.

FORTS, the derivatives market of RTS, is the leading trading venue for futures and options in Russia. Trading on FORTS started in September 2001. At present FORTS has the widest range of instruments in Russia. These are 48 contracts (31 futures and 17 options) on shares of Russian companies, bonds, short term interest rates, currency, RTS Index, oil, silver, gas, oil, sugar and gold.