existence as currency futures began trading on the International Monetary Market of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. By 1975, the definition of financial futures was greatly expanded when interest rate futures on GNMA certificates were initiated on the Chicago Board of Trade. By early 1976, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange quickly countered with interest rate futures on 90-day U.S. Treasury bills. A number of other products rapidly followed. Futures contracts were introduced for Treasury bonds, Treasury notes, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and other interest-related instruments. The enthusiasm eventually spread to the equity markets in the early 1980s with the introduction of stock index futures on the Value Line Index by the Kansas City Board of Trade. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange quickly came into the equity picture with the Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures contract as did the New York S ock Exchange with the NYSE Composite Index futures.
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