Euro Futures volume recorded a daily high on Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) reaching 2,963 contracts, valued at $191.5 million – for the first time in its three-year history.

February 4th was the busiest day for Euro futures on DGCX as trades accounted for 75 per cent of the Exchange’s total daily volume, demonstrating the growing importance of currencies in its product range.

The previous high for DGCX Euro futures was 1,748 contracts, valued at $138.18 million in July 2008.

In the past few months, currency futures have emerged as a significant segment of the Exchange’s product portfolio. Nishat Bandali, chief marketing officer, DGCX, highlighted that the volumes demonstrate a strong appetite to use DGCX futures in order to hedge risk in currency exposure.

“Our range of currency futures contracts continue to attract increased interest reflecting the need among market participants to build a diversified asset portfolio. At the same time, the exchange has supported this increased interest with strategic initiatives to encourage liquidity,” he added.

Bandali said “Going forward, we expect currencies to account for a significant share of total volumes, alongside the precious metal and energy sectors.”

Within the currencies segment, DGCX offers futures contracts on the Euro/Dollar, Sterling/Dollar, Indian Rupee/Dollar and Japanese Yen/Dollar.

Volume in Euro futures has grown consistently over the past year – contributing 25 per cent of the Exchange’s total volume in January 2009, Bandali added.-TradeArabia News Service