The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) has achieved a major milestone  this month when its total cumulative trading turnover crossed the $50 billion mark driven by a 69 per cent jump in the total trading volume which soared to over 4 million contracts.

The compounded monthly growth rate of the BFX trading volume for the period between December 2011 and January 2013 was 69 per cent per month, indicating the rapid growth in the BFX derivatives segment primarily due to the increase in the BFX membership and overall market participation, said a statement from exchange.
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For the period between the launch date on November 23, 2011 and February 8, 2013, the total cumulative trading volume surged to 4.37 million contracts, with a cumulative trading turnover of $52.85 billion, it stated.

The highest daily trading volume of 118,495 contracts was recorded on January 17, 2013, said the statement.

The trading volume on the BFX markets reached 1 million contracts in 258 trading days; whereas, the 4 million contracts mark was achieved in only 51 trading days. Similarly, the trading turnover on the BFX markets reached $25 billion in 246 trading days, as compared to the next $25 billion mark, which was achieved in 63 trading days.

The BFX Futures are currently available on the US Dollar versus the Indian Rupee (USD-INR) currency pair, Euro versus the US Dollar (EUR-USD) currency pair, Gold, Silver and Natural Gas, said the statement.

Other innovative products in the pipeline include the BFX MCX USD Gold and Silver Futures as well as Options contracts on the USD-INR currency pair, it added.

Commenting on the milestone, Arshad Khan, the managing director and chief executive officer of the BFX and the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC), said: "A good set of trading figures to start year 2013 is a positive indicator for the effectiveness of our strategy in balancing between attracting higher liquidity and the selected products we have listed in our Exchange, and further reinforces a promising long-term growth in the regional capital markets."
 
"Factoring-in today’s market appetite, we have recently launched Futures contracts on Silver and INR-$currency pair and we are pleased to report that as a result, the trading volume on the BFX markets during the first 29 calendar days of Q1 2013 is already 143 per cent of the total trading volume during the entire fourth quarter of 2012," remarked Khan.

"Excellent opportunities for hedging, investments and arbitrage continue to attract a diverse range of market participants from all across the region," he added.-TradeArabia News Service