Dubai: Total volumes on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) hit 1,000,174 contracts in February, with the average daily volume rising 6 per cent from the previous month to 50,309 contracts per day.

DGCX’s Mini-Indian Rupee futures contract was one of the key performers of the month, growing 54 per cent from January to register 145,329 contracts. The smaller version of DGCX’s regular Indian Rupee futures contract, the Mini-Indian Rupee futures was launched in April 2013 in response to market demand for a smaller contract that allows traders to execute trading strategies without making high capital investments.

Other key currency performers in February included Swiss Franc, British Pound and Canadian Dollar futures, which grew 126 per cent, 31 per cent and 15 per cent respectively from the previous month. Euro futures recorded its highest average daily open interest of 1,903 contracts in February, according to the exchange.

Silver futures volumes grew substantially in February, up 209 per cent from last year, aggregating 6,446 contracts, its highest since June 2011. The contract was also up 35 per cent from January. Sensex Futures recorded its third highest monthly volume of 11,564 contracts in February.

Year-to-date volumes of energy contracts registered a growth of 45 per cent from last year, in addition to a 33 per cent year-on-year rise. Year-to-date volumes for WTI futures grew 38 per cent.