Commodity futures and options were the only derivatives that saw growth in trading volumes last year, the World Federation of Exchanges said, amid what analysts said was a weak U.S. market after the MF Global and Peregrine broking scandals. The number of commodity derivatives traded across the world rose by around 19 percent for a second straight year in 2012, reaching 3,265 contracts in all from 2,749 in 2011, the Paris-based WEF said in a statement issued on Thursday. In comparison, interest rates instruments registered a 15 percent decline in derivatives volume; securities for equities showed a fall of more than 15 percent and currency derivatives marked a drop of over 22 percent. And for the first time since 2004, the number of exchange- traded derivatives worldwide decreased 15 percent to a total of around 21 billion. More on Reuters here.
