Dubai: The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said it saw record levels of volume and value of deals traded on the bourse in 2019, calling it the ‘most successful year since launch’.

The bourse traded more than 23.06 million deals during the last 12 months, beating the 22.26 million contracts recorded in 2018, as more investors turned to commodities as a hedge against uncertainty last year.

The Dubai-based bourse said it also cleared over $866 billion in notional value and recorded its highest annual average open interest (AOI), with 324,803 contracts, up from the 284,736 contracts registered in 2018. Open interest refers to the total number of outstanding contracts at the end of the trading day and is considered to be a strong indicator of the success of a bourse.

“We are delighted to see continued growth in our contracts as an increasing number of investors recognise the value they offer for hedging purposes during periods of uncertainty,” said Les Male, CEO of DGCX.

“This has been particularly apparent over the last 12 months, in which we saw substantial global volatility triggered by a series of notable events including the US-China trade war, ongoing Brexit negotiations and the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time in over a decade,” Male added.

Among the products traded on the bourse, the DGCX’s INR Quanto Futures contract, emerged as the best performer last year, with over 7.7 million contracts, up 109 per cent year-on-year. Also a strong performer is DGCX’s flagship Gold Futures contract, which traded over 478,000 deals up 107 per cent year-on-year.