UAE’s leading derivatives bourse, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), has recorded an all-time high of more than 9.5 million contracts in the first half of 2016 as heightened market Volatility after the Brexit vote boosted trading on the exchange, according to a DGCX statement.
The standout figure marks the highest half-yearly trading volume with a strong upswing seen across all its asset classes, growing 49.64 percent over the same period last year. DGCX recorded an all-time figure for daily trading volumes in the preceding month, with an aggregate of 150,570 contracts exchanged in the marketplace on June 24th, crossing the 3.55 billion USD mark in terms of traded value.
The uptick in commodity prices was one the main vehicles of growth at DGCX during June 2016 after a rebound on speculation that supply disruptions and production cuts are whittling away the surpluses that caused the price collapse. Additionally, signs of improvement in global demand had a positive impact on the precious metals segment which witnessed a robust trading activity with 104 percent growth and recorded 422,537 contracts this year.
H1 2016 Performance
Building on the standout performance, the DGCX witnessed high volumes in the currency segment, with its flagship Indian rupee contract signifying the growth trajectory due to mounting concerns over the Indian Central Bank Governor’s impending departure.
More specifically, the exchange reported an increase of 7.71 percent and 20.62 percent in trading volumes of the Indian rupee and Mini Indian rupee futures respectively, while the Indian rupee options contract saw a spike of 164.08 percent.
Fuelled by the Brexit developments, British pound and euro futures also helped lead the charge, surging 163 percent and 121 percent respectively on a year-to-date basis.
On the energy front, the marketplace recorded a massive growth of 229.45% in 1000 Barrel WTI futures. DGCX’s mini sized 100 Barrel WTI contract also touched an all-time high after trading 35,120 contracts this year.
Commenting on the heightened trading activity, Gaurang Desai, CEO of Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange, said: "Brexit, an event of seismic proportions has triggered extreme volatility in world markets over the weeks running up to actual vote and result days. It is in these times, investors look for regulated exchange platforms to hedge their price risk exposures across asset classes.”
”DGCX is now considered to be an extremely important trading venue helping investors protect their trading portfolios by effectively mitigating risk and market exposure which was evident with DGCX breaking its all-time daily volume records," concluded Desai.
