CME Group: Average Daily Metals Volume Soars 23% In 2017

(Kitco) Exchange operator CME Group reports that average daily volume in metals markets increased 23% to a record 568,000 contracts during 2017. This far exceeded the average daily volume for all CME markets combined, which was up 4% from 2016 to hit a record 16.3 million contracts. Gains in average daily volume for other markets included interest rates, 9%; foreign exchange, 7%; energy, 6%; and agriculture, 2%. For just the month of December, average metals volume rose 48% year-on-year to 531,000 contracts daily. Gold futures and options ADV was up 47% to 303,000 contracts, while the same for silver was up 29% to 75,000 contracts. In the case of copper, this soared 74% to 119,000 contracts.