Orc is to expand coverage of Nasdaq markets to include Nasdaq Futures Inc (NFX), the exchange group's US-based designated contract market (DCM), on its first day of trading.

Through NFX, Nasdaq will expand its commodities business with futures and options on key energy benchmarks including oil, natural gas and U.S. power, which will launch in 2015. Market participants will be able to manage their trading and hedging needs in a cost-efficient manner, using an innovative horizontal clearing solution operated by The Options Clearing Corporation.

"We are dedicated to evolving our Execution Bricks offering and look forward to providing sophisticated and powerful connectivity solutions to the exchange traded derivatives space," says Martin Nilsson, Head of Product Management, Orc Group. "We are always looking for new opportunities for our clients and are happy to support Nasdaq's new endeavour for energy contracts."

Orc believes the key to staying competitive is robust low latency access to trading venues, and provides fast, reliable market access to over 150 exchanges, broker and alternative liquidity pools in the critical areas of execution, market data and reference data.

"Our cooperation with key trading software vendors like Orc is instrumental to our efforts to provide energy market participants across the world with innovative trading tools," says Magnus Haglind, Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq Futures. "Orc offers highly efficient tools for the execution of trading strategies, and our new suite of energy benchmark products will further enable trading firms to invest in commodities in a more cost-efficient manner."