ICE to add STIR futures as rates drive OI records

ICE on Thursday announced that it will bring Swedish Krona SWESTR and Australian Dollar BBSW futures on June 22, and expand its central bank futures to include Bank of Japan (BOJ) Dated TONA, Riksbank Dated SWESTR and Norges Bank Dated NOWA contracts on that day.

The move comes as ICE marked an overall open interest (OI) record of 128 million contracts on May 14, up 24% year-on-year. Financial derivatives rose 54% in the period, hitting 54 million lots on May 14.

“As market shifts impact inflation expectations, demand for interest rate risk transfer has accelerated. The depth of liquidity we provide to customers as they navigate evolving volatility conditions means that they can trade and hedge their rates portfolio with precision and confidence from one venue,” said Caterina Caramaschi (pictured), vice president of financial derivatives at ICE said in a release. “We are excited to broaden our rates offering to cover Japanese, Scandinavian, South African and Australian futures, a decision that reflects customer demand for on-exchange, multicurrency rate risk management solutions.”

UK SONIA futures and options more than doubled, reaching open interest of 19.6 million contracts, according to data published by the exchange. OI across ICE Euribor futures and options, is up 37% y/y at 26 million contracts in the period, while euro short term rate (ESTR) reached a record 2.9 million contracts on May 14, 2026, as the exchange benefitted from volatility-driven flows across European markets.