As the global economic situation fluctuated over the past year and volatility increased in equities, fixed-income and currency markets, traders turned to derivatives for risk management and hedging. This shift was borne out in figures that CME Group – the world’s largest derivatives exchange operator – released Thursday, showing that trading volume in August increased by 15 percent from a year ago.

Daily volume averaged 11.7 million contracts, with 9.7 million of those trades taking place through electronic platforms. The news boosted shares of CME Group by 2.3 percent to $262.17.

Treasury futures and interest rate derivatives volumes showed particularly strong increases; Treasury futures were up 34 percent from last August, while interest rate futures gained 15 percent.

Foreign exchange futures were another growth sector, gaining 33 percent from the same period a year ago. A recent report from the Bank of International settlements showed that the global foreign exchange market grew by 20 percent from April 2007 to April 2010; during that period, CME saw a 94 percent increase in forex trading volumes.

The news shows that in turbulent economic times, investors, fund managers and end-users increase their usage of derivatives risk management strategies.