Volumes on Eurex, the Swiss-German derivatives exchange, rose by 26% during 2003, when a total of 1.012 billion contracts were traded. The record volumes will provide a welcome boost to the exchange, which is planning to open a new futures market in the US in early 2004.

The preliminary figures released by Eurex on Thursday include an estimate for the last six exchange-trading days of the year, On Wednesday the exchange already passed the 1bn barrier - becoming the first exchange to trade over a billion contracts during a one-year period. Last year 801m contracts were traded on the exchange.