New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) announced it will offer electronic trading of its energy futures contracts during pit trading hours in the second quarter, a move the exchange had previously insisted was unnecessary, in a bid to counter the recent competitive threat from Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) (see FO Week Vol 11 No 2).
Offering side-by-side trading on its ClearPort trading platform is a major move by the New York exchange, which had to that point staunchly defended floor trading as the best way to deal commodity products.
Market sources, though, commented that exchange members and executives "undoubtedly" took notice of the early success its rival Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) had with the launch of its competing WTI crude futures contract launched on 3 February. In its first four days, the contract traded 38,633 on day one, 3 February, and 28,246, 45,962 and 44,873 from 6 to 8 February....