As New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) gears up to relaunch its assault on International Petroleum Exchange (IPE)'s Brent crude oil futures market, the battle looks likely to be waged principally in open outcry trading pits.
Seeing IPE's decision to reduce pit trading hours as an opportunity, Nymex is considering its options with a view to "perpetuating open outcry, especially in Brent trading," according to Nymex spokesperson Nachamah Jacobovits.
IPE, meanwhile, reaffirmed commitment to its own floor trading despite the imminent reduction in pit opening hours and stated plans by IPE owners Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to take the exchange fully-electronic.
Nymex played down reports that it was in talks...