The Exchange continued its growth trend with an average open interest reaching a high of over 460,155 lots valuing an average of US$ 7.61 billion. Month of October witnessed steady volumes traded with an Average Daily Volume of 71,870 valuing an average of US$ 1.6 billion.
The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) saw its Indian Rupee product suite record new highs, reaching a cumulative Average Daily Volume (ADV) growth of 36.56% year to date, valued at 1.48 Bln USD. Global volatility having its impact on futures trading is clearly reflective with, the Indian Rupee Options, Quanto and Rupee-USD Futures contracts becoming increasingly popular choices for regional investors and traders with over 14.9 million contracts traded to date.
Year to date, the Indian Rupee Options contract Average Daily Volumes grew by an impressive 219%, The Rupee Quanto contract increased year-on-year volumes by 299%, from 1.06 million to 4.23 million contracts traded, while the Rupee Options volumes increased by 156.85% year-on-year, from 97,224 to 249,717 contracts. The Indian Rupee Quanto contract was recently awarded the Most Innovative Contract of the year in Singapore at the Asia 2016 FIA Awards.
Beating their own previous records, the Indian Rupee Options contract and the Indian Rupee Quanto Futures contract both peaked with the highest monthly Average Open Interest (AOI) of 16,196 contracts and 238,783 contracts respectively. The Indian Rupee Futures contracts recorded the 2nd highest monthly AOI of 192,388 contracts.
FX contracts were clearly the standout performers. The GBP-US Dollars Futures contract recorded a 126% ADV growth year-to-date whilst, the Chinese Yuan Futures contracts recorded its 2nd highest monthly Average Open Interest In October.
These trends are indicative of investor demand for opportunities in emerging markets and regulated platforms that allow for hedging their exposure at a time when markets are impacted by global events such as Brexit and US presidential elections.
Global market volatility dominated the recent 32nd Annual FIA (Futures Industry Association) Expo in Chicago, where DGCX participated in a eight member exchange panel focused on Asian exchanges which focused on growing interest from the Western trading community in emerging market opportunities.
Gaurang Desai, Chief Executive Officer of the DGCX, commented on the performance of the Exchange: “After the recent RBI rate cut in India, the continued Brexit discussions and the impending US presidential elections, our members, both old and new, are seeing the DGCX’s unique value proposition for their hedging and trading needs. Volatility can cause short sharp shocks to global markets – we have seen a trend among our members to move towards regulated and protected robust exchange platforms. We at the DGCX make it a priority to ensure that our clients’ capital is protected in uncertain times, through our robust risk systems and ability to offer real time mark to market valuations.”
As part of the UAE Governments initiative ‘Dubai Week In China’, DGCX also signed a strategic agreement with the Shanghai Gold Exchange. By referencing the bullion benchmark prices on its trading platform, DGCX has become the first-ever International Exchange to list and provide vital access to Shanghai Gold Futures quoted in Yuan. This is a starter milestone marking the way for further internationalization of the global bullion derivatives markets.
