CME May record: crude oil futures, Treasuries drive 33.2M ADV

CME Group ADV, May 2026	Contracts	Change y/y
Total	33.2 million	+15%
Interest rate	18.8 million	+16%
Equity index	8.0 million	+21%
Energy	2.7 million	+3%
Agricultural	1.9 million	+16%
WTI crude oil futures	932,000	+4%
Micro WTI crude oil	272,000	+317%
International ADV	10.2 million	+18%

CME Group said on June 2, 2026 that May average daily volume reached a record 33.2 million contracts, up 15% from May 2025. Interest rate products did most of the work, but crude oil futures and their smaller-sized micro versions also posted gains.

Interest rate ADV rose 16% to 18.8 million contracts. Two-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures averaged 1.9 million contracts a day for the month and set a single-day record of 7 million contracts on May 26. Ultra 10-Year Treasury Note futures set their own single-day record of 4.8 million contracts on the same day, and Ultra U.S. Treasury Bond futures averaged 783,000 contracts. Same-day records in several Treasury contracts usually reflect a burst of repositioning across the yield curve, though the release did not tie the activity to a specific event.

In energy, which averaged 2.7 million contracts a day (+3%), WTI Crude Oil futures averaged 932,000 contracts, up 4%. Micro WTI Crude Oil futures averaged 272,000, up 317%. The micro contract’s growth has been running far ahead of the standard benchmark; in April, CME reported Micro WTI volume up 421% year over year. The pattern suggests a widening base of smaller participants trading oil exposure through the exchange.

Equity index ADV rose 21% to 8 million contracts, and agricultural ADV increased 16% to 1.9 million. Metals averaged 930,000 contracts, foreign exchange 901,000 and cryptocurrency 224,000, the last representing $14.9 billion in notional value. Energy’s 3% growth was the slowest among the asset classes for which CME gave growth rates, which shows that the month’s record was built mainly on rates and equity index trading, with oil playing a supporting role.

Trading from outside the U.S. continued to grow. International ADV rose 18% to 10.2 million contracts, with EMEA up 20% to 7.6 million and APAC up 11% to 2.2 million. That means roughly 31% of the month’s total came from participants outside the U.S.

What to watch: whether Treasury futures activity stays elevated into June after the late-May records, and whether the standard WTI contract begins to share in the growth now concentrated in micro crude. The release covers volume only and does not speak to the direction of oil or bond prices.