OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2010. On February 15, 2010 a cash-settled futures contract on the RTS Standard Index (RTSS) was launched on FORTS, the derivatives market of RTS.

On its first day of trading more than 1,000 market participants carried out transactions in the new instrument making over 3,150 trades to the value of RUB2,086,074,125 (USD69.168 million), represented by 23,000 contracts. The open interest reached RUB237,730,230 (USD7.882 million) or 2,614 contracts. The average size of a trade was 7 contracts.

For more information and the contract’s specifications, please visit the contract's page.

FORTS, the derivatives market of RTS, is the leading trading venue for futures and options in Russia. Trading on FORTS started in September 2001. At present FORTS has the widest range of instruments in Russia. These are 47 contracts (34 futures and 13 options) on RTS Index, RTS Standard Index, shares of Russian companies, bonds, short term interest rates, currency, gold, silver, oil, diesel oil, and sugar.

RTS Standard Index is calculated based on trades in and quotes for the top 15 most liquid stocks of the Russian cash equities market trading on RTS Standard. It is an indicator that tracks performance of the so called blue chips. The RTS Standard Index is calculated from 10.30 am to 11.50 pm MSK.