The notional value of outstanding over-the-counter derivatives contracts continued to rise modestly in the second half of 2009, while market values kept declining, the Bank for International Settlements said Monday.

The BIS said that the notional amounts of all types of OTC derivatives contracts outstanding increased by 2% during the second half, to US$615 trillion, at year-end. This was slower than in the first half, when notional value rose 10%. Interest rate and foreign exchange derivatives accounted for most of the second half increase, the bank noted.

However, overall gross market values for all OTC positions decreased by 15% in the period, following a contraction of 22% in the first half of 2009, the BIS added. Gross credit exposures fell by 6%, following an 18% decline in the previous period, it said.

Notional amounts outstanding of credit default swap contracts continued to decline, down 9% in the period, although this represented an improvement from the first half of 2009 when they were down 14%. CDS gross market values shrank by 40%, a similar rate of decline to that seen in the first half of the year (-42%), the BIS noted.