Trading volumes in the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) grew 18% in July from previous month, trading 992,061 contracts, valued at US$ 29.95 billion.
DGCX Gold Futures traded 39,536 contracts in July, growing 15% year-on-year and 10% month-on-month. The metals segment grew 24% year-on-year with Silver futures witnessing year on year growth of over 300%.
In the currency segment, Indian Rupee Futures grew 22% from last month, while Mini Indian Rupee Futures rose 3%. The Indian Rupee Options contract which was re-introduced on July 18 traded 343 contracts. Among the other currency pairs, British Pound, Australian Dollars and Yen Futures, grew 45%, 47% and 7% respectively.
DGCX’s BSE Sensex Futures, one of the key performers for the month, recorded the second highest ever monthly volume of 21,466 contracts, surging 441% year-on-year. The Indian equities futures also recorded the second highest ever monthly trade of 12,911 trades in July.
Gary Anderson, CEO of DGCX said: “The increased trading activity in Gold, Sensex and Indian Rupee products demonstrates the growing interest from market participants in using a diversified mix of derivative products to hedge against price exposure. We are particularly pleased by the initial response to our re-introduced Indian Rupee Options contract which will complement DGCX’s successful Indian product offering. We remain committed to the launch of new products in currency, precious metals, equity and agricultural segments, which will further expand DGCX’s existing product portfolio.”
DGCX continues to work towards introducing a number of new products, targeted at Middle East customers. DGCX Spot Gold remains a priority – which will be the Middle East’s first exchange-traded physically deliverable spot gold contract. In addition – and as part of the expansion of DGCX Emerging Market (EM) currency portfolio – the Exchange is considering listing three new currency futures in the near future. DGCX also plans to add the MSCI India Index futures to its equity suite in Q4.
In July, DGCX recorded the highest ever average Daily Open Interest of 54,718 contracts. Both Indian Rupee Futures and BSE Sensex Futures also recorded the highest ever average Daily Open Interest of 43,929 and 692 contracts respectively.