Euronext launches first government bond futures

The new Euronext mini-futures focus on Europe’s main government bonds, including France’s 10-year OAT, the German Bund and Italian government bonds.

The mini-futures, which are listed on the Euronext Derivatives Milan market, feature a notional size of €25,000 (£21,800) and cash settlement.

Euronext said that, while the mini futures primarily help to meet the needs of retail investors, these instruments also provide asset managers and institutional investors granularity required for hedging or taking exposure to government bonds.

“This initiative is central to our ‘Innovate for Growth 2027’ strategic plan, which aims to leverage Euronext’s unique presence across the trading value chain to develop truly innovative products that meet evolving market demand,” said Anthony Attia, global head of Derivatives and Post Trade at Euronext.

Euronext, which operates exchanges in seven European countries including France, Italy and the Netherlands, said the new products would help investors deal with a period of high volatility in the European bond markets.

The introduction of the mini-futures is part of Euronext’s ambition to develop further into the fixed income derivatives segment.

The European government bond futures and options market is dominated by Frankfurt-based Eurex, part of Deutsche Boerse group.