Eurex launched options on the shares of Electricité de France (EdF) on 5 December, the first derivatives market to provide liquid trading in EdF options.

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Eurex launched options on the shares of Electricité de France (EdF) on 5 December, the first derivatives market to provide liquid trading in EdF options.

Only a few days before, France's largest power supplier went public in what was the biggest IPO the world had seen in recent years. Alongside EdF, Eurex has also listed options on the shares of Gaz de France. The new products bring the number of European equity options that are available for trading on Eurex to a total of 174; 37 of those are based on French stock corporations.

With these moves, Eurex has been able to further strengthen its position as the leading marketplace for European equity options. During the first eleven months of 2005, trading volumes in the French equity options segment surged by 85 per cent over the previous year, to around 17,000 contracts per day.

Open interest increased to 1.3 million contracts, which is more than threefold year-to-date. On a market-share basis, exchange-traded options on French stocks currently account for about 25 per cent.

For more information on stock options, please click here