Exchange trades 51,943 contracts on May 16, valued at US $ 1.98 billion

Driven by an increase in Indian Rupee and Gold futures trading, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) registered a new daily volume high of 51,943 contracts on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. The new daily volume record surpassed the previous best of 42,484 contracts set on May 9, 2012. The Exchange also set a new daily value record, with US $ 1.98 billion worth of contracts traded on Wednesday.

Wednesday also saw DGCX Indian Rupee futures registering yet another daily volume record of 44,821 contracts on the back of increased trading in back-month contracts – contracts that have more than one month to expire and offer tighter spreads. Gold futures, another key contributor to the daily record, registered a volume of 3,755 contracts on Wednesday, driven by heightened trading activity set off by a spike in the price volatility of the precious metal. On Wednesday, May 9, DGCX Gold futures achieved its highest daily volume of 6,068 contracts in 2012.

Gary Anderson, CEO of DGCX said: “We are very happy to see increasing back-month trading in Indian Rupee futures, which expands the opportunities available for Members to both manage price volatility and profit from price movements in the Indian Rupee. We are also encouraged by the volume increase in DGCX Gold futures, which has been enhanced by recent changes we made to the contract aimed at further boosting liquidity and facilitating tighter spreads. In particular, the introduction of a ‘matching intent’ facility that allows both physical and cash settlement of trades, has made the product even more attractive to retail and institutional traders. These changes are part of our constant endeavour to improve our contracts based on feedback from our member community and the market.”

This year, DGCX surpassed the two million contracts mark in just 82 trading days – the earliest it has crossed this figure in any year since inception. Year-to-date volumes on the Exchange, at the end of April, reached 2,105,680 contracts, valued at $86.5 billion, a 131% rise from 2011. Last month, DGCX also listed the region’s first Copper Futures contracts which got off to a robust start, trading 15,582 contracts in the first seven days of trading.