The New York Board of Trade has introduced futures and options on the value of the euro against a basket of five major currencies. Nybot says the new Finex Euro Index (ECX) products are intended to complement its well-established US dollar index range.
The contracts are based on the geometric average value against the euro of the US dollar, British pound, Japanese yen, Swiss franc and Swedish krona. Both futures and options trade in Nybot’s currency pits in New York and Dublin.
Rationale
Explaining the rationale for the euro index products, Nybot’s chairman, Frederick Schoenhut, says: “The euro is the currency of the world’s second-largest economic entity and the marketplace needs a tradable index that accurately gauges its value. Our exchange has a history of innovation in currency products, and with the record year we just completed in our currency markets, the New York Board of Trade is the ideal place for the first euro index contracts to trade.”
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“There’s a need to understand why individual currencies are moving. Trading an index removes some of the complexity” Anthony Scamardella, Nybot |
The new contracts will be supported by six market makers, including Deutsche Bank, plus locals trading in the pits.