International derivatives marketplace CME Group today announced it will expand its suite of Micro E-mini S&P 500 options with the launch of Tuesday and Thursday Weekly options on April 25, pending regulatory review. These new weekly options contracts will complement the existing Monday, Wednesday and Friday Weeklies, End-of-Month and Quarterly options on E-mini S&P 500 futures.
“As demand for additional short-dated equity options continues to grow, we are expanding the number of weekly expiries to allow our clients to hedge or trade with enhanced flexibility and precision around major market-moving events,” said Tim McCourt, CME Group Global Head of Equity and FX Products.
“The addition of Tuesday and Thursday Weekly options also builds on our longstanding partnership with S&P Dow Jones Indices and provides another way for traders to access our deep, liquid underlying E-mini S&P 500 futures markets.”
“S&P Dow Jones Indices and CME Group share a deep commitment to strengthen market accessibility and transparency through independent indices such as the S&P 500,” said Aye Soe, Global Head of Core and Multi-Asset Product Management at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “As the S&P 500 marks its 65th year in 2022, it remains widely regarded as the best single gauge of the large-cap U.S. equity market with more than $13 trillion in assets indexed or benchmarked to it. Through CME Group’s latest launch, S&P DJI is proud to license the S&P 500 to CME Group to expand the ecosystem of financial instruments tracking this iconic and historic benchmark.”
Interest and trading activity around E-mini S&P 500 options continues to grow. Year-to-date, E-mini S&P 500 Monday, Wednesday and Friday Weekly options average daily volume is 841,214 contracts, representing a 75% increase year-over-year.