CHICAGO, Ill. — Illinois-based CME Group told investors in late October during a conference call that it posted a nearly 23 percent increase in earnings for the quarter ended in September, while one month likely will have set a company record for its total volume of trades handled.

The largest futures exchange operator saw its number of trades handled for the quarter up 12 percent compared to the same period last year, but interest rate volatility led to a one-day record of transactions on Oct. 15.

That’s when CME handled more than 25 million interest rate transactions alone.

Total transactions for the day exceeded a record 40 million, said Terry Duffy, CME Group’s executive chair. In addition to futures and options based on interest rates, the company handles the most transactions based on agriculture commodities, energy, metals, among others.

“Our core business performed very well during the third quarter, with our record overall options volume and record volume from outside the United States accounting for 60 percent of the quarterly volume growth,” Duffy said. “In addition, the momentum has continued, and October is on track to have the highest monthly volume in our history.

“This reflects the significant client demand during a more volatile period, supported by the company’s unmatched liquidity, tight bid-ask spreads, system reliability and capital efficiency. Bottom line – with nearly nine million contracts traded that day from Europe, Asia and Latin America, we truly are the place where the world comes to manage risk.”

Duffy noted the one-day trade record was tied directly to speculation that interest rates could drop even more before next year’s intention by the Federal Reserve to raise rates. On Oct. 15, he noted, interest rates on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds decreased from 2.2 to 1.86 percent.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, CME posted a net profit of about $290 million, up nearly 23 percent over the $236.7 million profit posted for the same quarter a year ago.

The company’s per-share earnings was 84 cents, with total revenue for the quarter up nearly 7 percent, to $762.4 million.

CME Group CEO Phupinder Gill noted the company implemented a number of cost-efficiency measures during the past year and is poised to see better numbers on the expense side next year.

“Based on our current plans, we expect to keep operating expenses essentially flat in 2015, relative to this year,” Gill said.

CME Group stock finished trading the week of the announcement at nearly $82 a share.