Dubai: Over 7.98 million contracts worth a total of $133 billion (Dh488.4 billion) were traded in the third quarter of 2019 on The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), marking the highest ever quarterly volumes.
In September alone, 2.37 million contracts were traded, worth $41 billion, the exchange said in a statement on Monday. Trade in September was concentrated on DGCX’s suite of services on the Indian rupee.
Futures on the rupee were the top performer again, with more than 3.78 million contracts traded on the rupee/US dollar currency pair in the third quarter of the year.
DGCX also said it saw an uptake in its energy portfolio in September, with Brent crude oil futures and WTI futures seeing year-on-year growth of 154 per cent and 121 per cent respectively. This came against a backdrop of volatility in oil prices in the month after two oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked by drones.
Les Male, chief executive officer of DGCX, said the overall volume growth in the quarter was driven by geopolitical instability, including continued uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the US-China trade war.