Analysts adjust 2Q estimates for CME Group

On Tuesday, CME Group said 11.1 million contracts per day were traded on average during the second quarter, compared with 10.3 million contracts per day during the same period a year earlier.

About 12.4 million contracts were traded per day in June, down from 12.9 million per day during June 2007.

June volume was "slightly higher than expected," Lehman Brothers analyst Roger Freeman wrote in a research note. Freeman said strong e-mini volume helped June trading volume, but it was somewhat offset by weakness in interest rate trading.

E-minis are futures contracts traded electronically on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

CME Group also affirmed its expectations for 2008 operating expenses between $855 million and $870 million.

Freeman raised his second-quarter earnings estimate to $3.79 per share from $3.76 per share based on the better-than-expected June volume and improving rates per contract.

Lehman has suspended its rating and price target for CME Group because it is acting as an adviser to the exchange operator on its potential acquisition of fellow exchange operator Nymex Holdings Inc.

While Freeman raised his estimates based on June volume, Sandler O'Neill & Partners LP analyst Richard Repetto cut his estimate.

Repetto cut his second-quarter estimate by 11 cents per share, but still expects CME Group to earn more during the quarter than Freeman. Repetto now expects CME Group to earn $3.83 per share for the quarter.