DGCX Commodities Exchange sets record

Dubai: The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) on Wednesday announced that 1,142,814 contracts, valued at $58 billion (Dh213 billion) have been traded in 2009 as of Nov-ember 2.

This is a record volume for the exchange and surpasses the total volume of 1,142,293 contracts transacted in 2008.

The exchange also recorded a total volume of 137,994 contracts in October, a year-on-year increase of 159 per cent.

Valued at $7.2 billion, trading activity in October was supported by growth in all product segments; precious metals, energy and currencies.

Gold futures volume for October was 64,613 contracts, up 84 per cent compared with the same period last year. Silver futures increased to 4,081 contracts in October, up from 40 contracts the previous year.

Within the currency segment; volumes for the euro/dollar and GBP/dollar pairs increased by 155 per cent and 118 per cent to 17,139 and 19,659 contracts respectively.

Indian rupee and Japanese yen futures traded 7,469 and 4,726 contracts respectively in October, a substantial increase on last year.

WTI crude oil futures volume was 20,307 contracts, up 967 per cent on October last year, reflecting a recovery from volumes impacted by the credit crisis in the last quarter of 2008.

"The growth in October volume and the momentum achieved to date this year emphasises the role of DGCX and derivatives in general for managing risk arising from uncertain market conditions" said Eric Hasham, CEO, DGCX.

"It also highlights the benefits of the exchange's diversified product portfolio which is designed to meet the requirements of all market participants," he added.