* One board lot of the underlying stock

Strike prices will be set with reference to the closing price of the underlying stock on 6 June.  The strike price intervals will be as follows:

The underlying stocks for all three new option classes are H shares.  From 10 June, HKEx's derivatives market will offer 50 stock option classes, including 20 with H shares as underlying stocks and seven with red chips as underlying stocks (see attached table for details).  As a result, the stock options market’s Mainland China-related option classes will exceed 50 per cent of all classes for the first time. 

“The introduction of these new stock options classes will be a milestone for our stock options market as its China Dimension will be over 50 per cent for this first time in its history,” said Calvin Tai, HKEx’s Head of Derivatives Market.  “The pending change reflects developments in our securities market, where about three-quarters of the turnover and nearly 60 per cent of market capitalisation comes from H shares and red chips.”

The average daily stock options trading volume in first four months of this year was 212,562, up about 105 per cent from the same period a year ago, and open interest at the end of April was 5,997,317 contracts, compared with 3,098,809 contracts at the end of May last year, an increase of more than 93 per cent.  Additional derivatives market statistics are on the HKEx website.

The latest information on the futures and options contracts traded on HKEx's derivatives market, including contract summaries, is available on the HKEx website.

Stock Option Classes Available for Trading from 10 June 2008