By Townhall Chicago News Staff
Chicago-based CME Group on Tuesday reported a record average daily volume of 30 million contracts in October, a 15 percent increase over the same month in 2025, according to a company news release.
The milestone underscores continued growth at the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, which is headquartered in the Loop.
The previous October record of 26.3 million contracts was set in October 2025, according to the release. CME Group reported record October volume across four asset classes: interest rates, equity indexes, energy and agricultural products.
Interest rate products led the surge with an average daily volume of 14.8 million contracts, a 28 percent year-over-year increase, according to the release. U.S. Treasury futures and options volume jumped 48 percent to 9.2 million contracts per day.
Within the Treasury complex, 10-year U.S. Treasury Note futures volume climbed 58 percent, five-year notes rose 50 percent and two-year notes increased 51 percent, according to the company’s data.
Equity index products averaged 8.8 million contracts per day, up 15 percent. Micro E-Mini Nasdaq-100 futures stood out with a 74 percent increase to 2.9 million contracts daily, the release showed.
Energy products averaged 2.7 million contracts, up 1 percent, while agricultural products reached 2.1 million contracts, a 7 percent increase. Corn futures volume jumped 21 percent to 478,000 contracts per day, according to the company.
International trading also expanded. Average daily volume outside the United States reached 9 million contracts, a 9 percent increase, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa up 7 percent and Asia-Pacific up 15 percent, according to the release.
CME Group’s BrokerTec fixed-income trading platform saw its overall average daily notional value increase 18 percent to $1.127 trillion, according to the release. The platform recorded a record U.S. repo average daily notional value of $419.5 billion.
Cryptocurrency trading on the exchange averaged 145,000 contracts per day, representing $7.85 billion in notional value, the company reported.
CME Group enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and over-the-counter markets across all major asset classes, according to the company. Its exchanges include the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, New York Mercantile Exchange and Commodity Exchange.
The record volume comes as broader financial markets have experienced heightened activity amid shifting interest rate expectations and election uncertainty. The VIX volatility index has hovered near 20 in recent sessions.
Customer average collateral balances held to meet performance bond requirements for the three months ending September totaled $147 billion in cash and $166.9 billion in non-cash collateral, according to the release.
Detailed market statistics are available at CME Group’s investor relations website, the company said in the release.
