CHICAGO, IL -- (Marketwire) -- 06/01/12 -- The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 377,539,997 total options contracts changed hands in May, up 5.07 percent compared to the 359,310,820 contracts traded the previous May.

Average daily trading volume in May was 17,160,908 contracts, 0.30 percent more than the 17,110,039 contracts in the same year ago period. Year-to-date volume for May stood at 1,758,289,812 contracts, which is 4.68 percent less than the 1,844,620,084 contracts traded at the same point last year.

Equity options volume (options on individual stocks and ETFs) for May was 346,147,518 contracts, up 2.97 percent compared to May of last year when 336,176,810 contracts were exchanged. On average, 15,733,978 contracts changed hands each day during May, representing a 1.71 percent decrease from last May's daily average of 16,008,420 contracts. Equity options year-to-date volume came in at 1,626,089,210 contracts, down 5.64 percent compared to the 1,723,240,326 contracts traded throughout May of 2011.

About OIC
OIC is an industry cooperative funded by BATS Options, BOX Options Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, C2 Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, NASDAQ OMX PHLX, NASDAQ Options Market, NYSE Amex Options, NYSE Arca Options and OCC. OIC was formed in 1992 to educate investors and their financial advisors about the benefits and risks of exchange-traded equity options. OIC's resources include: Investor Services live help at 1-888-OPTIONS, its educational website at www.OptionsEducation.org, live seminars throughout the continental United States and Canada, and educational literature.