The Commodity Exchange in New York plans...

The Commodity Exchange in New York plans to trade a futures contract based on Moody’s Investors Service Inc.’s corporate bond index. The exchange said it will begin trading Oct. 29, assuming approval for the contract is received from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission when it considers the issue at its Oct. 27 meeting. Moody’s index futures will be based on Moody’s price-weighted index of 80 investment-grade bonds in the industrial, utility and financial segments of the credit market. Comex said the new contract is designed to give portfolio managers greater flexibility and control in hedging interest rate and credit risks in holdings of corporate bonds.