Dubai: The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) listed its new currency contracts on June 15 Australian dollar/US dollar, Canadian dollar/US dollar and Swiss franc/US dollar, amid healthy demand from participants.
The region's strong appetite for currency products was evident in the first week of trading for the new contracts a total of 881 contracts valued at US$40 million (Dh146.888 million), were transacted during the opening week.
"Our wider currency offering provides participants with further financial tools to manage exchange rate volatility. The new contracts meet the hedging and investment requirements of participants, while also enabling them to gain exposure to the strong economic fundamentals of these currencies," Eric Hasham, Chief Executive Officer, DGCX, said.
Other currency contracts trading on the exchange include euro/US dollar, sterling/US dollar, yen/US dollar and Indian rupee/US dollar futures contracts. Currencies have remained the fastest growing segment on DGCX with year-to-date volume rising 138 per cent.
DGCX is the only futures exchange outside the US and Europe to offer the world's six most liquid currency futures pairs.
It is also the only exchange in the region to offer currency futures with the added benefit of local clearing facilities which help safeguard participants against counterparty risk and guarantee settlement.
The new currency contracts can be traded from 8.30am to 11.30pm Dubai time (4.30am to 7.30pm GMT and 12.30am to 3.30pm Eastern US time).
Contract size
The contracts are sized at 50,000 francs, A$50,000 and C$50,000, with the contract price quoted in US dollars.
The minimum price fluctuation is $0.0001 per contract, equivalent to a tick value of $5 (Dh18.36) per contract. The first delivery month will be September 2010.
