The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) announced this Wednesday that it managed to achieve record trading volumes during 2018. Specifically, the Exchange reported an uptick in trading volumes of 28 percent year-over-year.
During 2018, a total of 22.26 million contracts were traded. The value of these contracts was $474.94 billion. This figure surpasses its previous highest value of $448 billion traded, which was achieved in 2013.
The average daily volumes (ADV) also closed out the year at an all-time high of 86,615 contracts. The highest daily volume during the year occurred on August 13, 2018, where 185,630 contracts were traded. May was the strongest month during the year, with more than 2 million contracts traded.
Les Male
Source: LinkedIn
Commenting on the results, Les Male, the CEO of DGCX, said: “throughout the year, the DGCX has achieved spectacular growth and broken numerous records, consistently demonstrating why it is the leading derivatives exchange in the Middle East."
“While geopolitical uncertainty and other factors beyond our control have contributed to our remarkable performance, it has been our hardwork and efforts from within that have had the largest bearing on our success.”
INR and G6 currencies achieve the best performance on DGCX in 2018
Over the whole year, the best performing asset classes were the Indian Rupee (INR) product suite and G6 currency futures. For INR, trading volumes jumped by 25 percent on a year-on-year basis. This surge was mainly driven by an increase in hedging appetite due to volatile markets. The trading volumes for G6 futures increased by nine percent when measured against 2017, hitting 595,491 contracts.
“It was a particularly busy year for INR trading as the Indian rupee touched record lows, with investors seeking safety in the USD in response to global economic and political headwinds. While the foreign exchange market as a whole witnessed Volatility on the back of global trade discussions, changing market dynamics and developments across the UK, USA and Europe pushed our G6 currency portfolio to all time highs,” added Male.
Looking to the new year, Male concluded that the exchange is well-positioned for further growth in 2019, noting that DGCX has “a considerable pipeline already,” with the exchange planning to launch new contracts and services over the next year.
