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DUBAI / WAM
The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) traded an aggregate 1.37 million contracts in January, valued at $33 billion.
The exchange recorded its highest daily trading volume for 2017 on January 25 with 117,637 contracts, valued at $2.9 billion. The British Pound and Yen futures witnessed a substantial year-on-year growth in volumes, up 87 percent and 757 percent respectively.
DGCX gold futures also recorded an impressive increase of 56 percent with the precious metal witnessing major price fluctuations in the lead up to the Chinese New year.
DGCX’s Indian products particularly, Indian Rupee Options and Quanto contracts, registered strong year-on-year growth of 176 percent and 127 percent respectively, reflecting on the positive tone as India and the UAE elevated their strategic partnership. In addition, investor appetite was strong for DGCX’s Indian Single Stock futures which grew by 29 percent in comparison to the same period last year. Another currency pairing that saw significant trading appetite was the Chinese Yuan futures, which recorded the highest monthly Average Open Interest of 436 contracts in January 2017.
Gaurang Desai, CEO of DGCX, commented, “Last year, we witnessed sustained volatility, which emphasised to investors the value of transacting in a secure, transparent and regulated market place to hedge their risks and exposure against rapid price movements. Global markets are likely to continue experiencing sharp bouts of volatility throughout 2017 against a backdrop of major political developments and anticipated instability.
We expect increased demand for derivative products for hedging and investment purposes and we are confident that DGCX will continue to play an increasingly important role for investors within the region.
“Keeping innovation at the core of the DGCX is key. We are optimistic that the current product pipeline for the year will enable the exchange to further improve its growth and development milestones,†he added.