Investors are piling into futures tied to the Federal Reserve’s benchmark overnight rate at a record clip amid the risk of strains in short-term funding markets at quarter-end.
Volumes in fed funds futures, which traders use to bet on the path of the Fed’s benchmark overnight rate, reached almost 500,000 contracts in the September maturity as of 10:30 a.m. in New York. That level surpasses the previous record for the first generic contract set on April 3, when President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement roiled markets. The futures started trading on the Chicago Board of Trade in 1988.