Tokyo Commodities Volumes Up in August 2012 MoM

The Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) saw August 2012 trading volume averaging 77,627 contracts per day, down 6.4% from July 2012.

Some TOCOM contracts saw month ­over ­month rise for average daily volume: Platinum was up 9.1% to 12,164 contracts and Silver was up 55.6% to 449 contracts. However, declines in Gold ­ the leading contractat TOCOM, and most other contracts saw volume decreases: Gold was down 3.1% to 34,709 contracts and Gold Mini was down 26.9% to 6,080 contracts.

The TOCOM Gold contract is trading at 4,327 (JPY).

Anxiety over the Eurozone crisis is one factor for volume decreases, as are the global economic slump and associated risk aversion that continues to overshadow markets around the world. It is also likely that many market participants pulled back from trading to before the FRM statement at the end of August.

Open interest at the end of July for all listed contracts totaled 328,680, an increase of 11,246 (3.54%) from the prior month.

TOCOM trade volume averages between $1.2 and $1.8 billion a day, similar to Gold volumes on India's MCX.