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Intercontinental (ICE) Enhances Offerings With MSCI Index TRFs

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Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE - Free Report) recently announced the launch of MSCI Index Total Return Futures (TRFs). This move is expected to enhance ICE’s offerings and aid clients to gain exposure to MSCI’s indices like the MSCI Emerging Market Index, MSCI USA Index, MSCI EAFE Index and MSCI World Index. The new product will refer to the total return version of indices, which includes the daily reinvestment of dividends.

This move bodes well for Intercontinental, which aims to strengthen its Exchange business segment. The Exchange segment’s revenues accounted for 56% of ICE’s consolidated revenues in 2023. TRFs act as an exchange-listed alternative to traditional OTC total return swaps. These TRFs will help investors replicate the performance of MSCI’s indices in a transparent and capital-efficient way. As ICE introduces more products that are relevant in the current scenario for investors, it should lead to improved transaction revenues in the future.

MSCI Index TRFs is expected to complement already existing ICE’s deeply liquid MSCI Futures in investor risk management process. The new offering will benefit investors by providing clear and direct pricing mechanisms with mark-to-market settlements on a daily basis and lower risks related to non-centrally cleared derivatives contracts.

ICE’s markets contribute 70% of total MSCI futures trading by volume, aiding investors already familiar with MSCI futures to trade MSCI Index TRFs. Clients will benefit from a U.S. time zone trading against the closing MSCI index level and reporting of the trade on the same day. Clients will also gain from a cost-effective solution of gaining exposure to MSCI’s indices, helping them manage equity risk. ICE traded more than 53 million contracts in MSCI Futures in 2023.

Zacks Rank and Price Performance

Intercontinental currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Shares of the company have gained 12.7% in the past three months compared with the industry’s 12.6% growth.

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Other Stocks to Consider

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN - Free Report) , Alerus Financial Corporation (ALRS - Free Report) and American Express Company (AXP - Free Report) . While Coinbase Global sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Alerus Financial and American Express carry a Zacks Rank #2.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The consensus mark for Coinbase Global’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.01 per share, which remained stable over the past week. COIN beat earnings estimates in each of the past four quarters, with an average surprise of 377.6%.

The consensus mark for Alerus Financial’s 2024 earnings is pegged at $1.53 per share, which remained stable over the past week. ALRS beat earnings estimates in three of the past four quarters and missed once, with an average surprise of 14.4%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Express’ 2024 earnings is pegged at $12.82 per share, which indicates a 14.4% year-over-year increase. The consensus mark for AXP’s revenues in 2024 is pegged at $66.2 billion, which predicts 9.4% growth. AXP beat earnings estimates in two of the past four quarters and missed twice, with an average surprise of 1.1%.

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