Montreal Exchange Inc. today reported a 12% drop in average daily trading volume for the first quarter ended March 31.

Average daily trading volume during the quarter was 164,686 contracts. This was a decrease of 12% compared to the same period of 2007 and an increase of 8% compared to the previous quarter, ended Dec. 31, 2007.

The combined trading activity on the two platforms operated by MX teams, supporting the Montreal Exchange and the Boston Options Exchange (BOX), reached an average daily volume of 840,235 contracts in the first quarter, an increase of 41% compared to the combined volume in the first quarter of 2007 and a 9% increase from the previous quarter.