OREANDA-NEWS. January 25, 2010. On January 22, 2010 a new trading record was set on the RTS Index futures contract, the most liquid instrument of the Russian financial market.

The trading volume in this contract reached RUB 90.061 billion or USD 3.027 billion in terms of notional value by the end of the trading session.

The previous record in trading volume was seen on October 29, 2009 when the RTS Index futures traded RUB86.931 billion or USD 2.979 billion in terms of notional value.

The RTS Index futures was launched in August 2005. In two years it picked up liquidity to become the top liquid instrument of the Russian market. In accordance with the rating issued by the Futures Industry Association based on the results of Q1 of 2009, the RTS Index futures enters the top 10 most liquid indices derivatives worldwide.

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 47 contracts (34 futures and 13 options) on shares of Russian companies, bonds, short term interest rates, currency, RTS Index, oil, silver, diesel oil, sugar and gold.