DGCX Gold futures trade hits all time high in May on US Fed interest rate hike possibilities

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES June 03 2016 9:33 AM

DUBAI (Scrap Register): During the month of May, the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) witnessed a flurry of trading activity due to uncertainty over Britain's exit from the European Union and also a possible interest rate hike by the Fed in June. The Exchange witnessed a strong upswing across its precious metals, hydrocarbon and equities segments, trading an aggregate of 1.5Mn contracts in May, growing 55% from last year, while Year-To-Date (YTD) volumes saw an increase of 47% from last year, trading over 7.7 Million contracts so far this year.

DGCX's precious metals segment, a key performer for the month, grew 225% over the same period last year - trading over 80,000 contracts. The Exchange's flagship contract - Gold futures saw a record high of 97% from last year. DGCX's Gold portfolio comprising of a Gold futures contract, a Quanto contract and a Dubai Spot contract has had its best run in the last 12 months, growing at 223% over the same period last year.

DGCX's hydrocarbon segment saw a brisk trading close to 17,500 contracts with average volumes in WTI Crude Oil recording an impressive increase of 233% on YTD basis. Similarly, trading on the mini sized WTI futures contract gained momentum, recording the highest ever volumes with 10,092 contracts, valued at over USD 47 million.

Within DGCX's equities portfolio, Sensex futures saw a substantial increase in volumes - trading an average of 804 contracts a day in the month of May, up 71% from over previous month.

In DGCX's currency segment, Mini Indian Rupee futures and Indian Rupee options led growth with an increase of 97% and 48% respectively on a Year-on-Year basis. Among the G6 currency pairs, Euro and British Pound futures delivered a strong performance growing 160% and 170% respectively on a Year-to- date basis.