Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc. announced that it saw record volume for the first quarter, averaging 5 million contracts per day, up 26% from the same period a year ago.

Total volume exceeded 307 million contracts for the quarter. On the CME Globex electronic trading platform, average daily volume increased 31% to a record 3.4 million contracts over the same timeframe, representing 69% of total exchange trading.

During the quarter, total options reached a record 1.1 million contracts per day, up 40% compared with first-quarter 2005. Electronic options trading averaged 80,000 contracts per day for the first quarter, up from 22,000 in the same period a year ago. CME interest rate volume was a record 2.9 million contracts per day during the quarter, up 31% from the same period a year ago. Foreign exchange volume reached a record average of 407,000 contracts per day, up 38% compared with first-quarter 2005.

Trading in equity index products averaged a record 1.4 million contracts per day in the first quarter, an increase of 14% compared with the same period last year.

Commodities volume reached a record 73,000 contracts per day in the first quarter, up 42% over the same period a year ago.