Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said its trading volumes in the first half hit an all-time record of 1,417,223 contracts, valued at $69.1 billion, up 52 per cent from last year.

DGCX, the first derivatives exchange in the region, said June witnessed the highest ever monthly volume of 268,390 contracts, valued at $12.96 billion, an increase of 40 per cent from last year.

DGCX achieved numerous volume records with average daily volume up 40 per cent year-on-year to stand at 12,200 contracts, worth $589 million, the exchange said in a statement.

Another all-time record was the highest ever average daily total open interest of 10,943 contracts in June, it added.

June volumes were driven largely by a surge in currency trading. Both H1 and June volumes in the currency segment hit all-time records, said a top official.

“The volume records that DGCX has set in June cap an excellent six months for the Exchange in 2011. The robust trading growth that we have achieved over the first half of the year augurs well for a strong annual performance,' Eric Hasham, CEO of DGCX said.

'We look forward to consolidating our growth in the second half of the year,' he remarked.

According to him, the H1 currency volumes rose 80 per cent to reach 1,105,673 contracts while June currency volumes grew 119 per cent to aggregate 231,064 contracts.

DGCX India Rupee futures sustained its growth momentum to trade 204,609 contracts - a new monthly volume record.

Among other currency contracts, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar and Swiss Franc futures registered H1 volumes of 16,454, 3,543 and 14,625 contracts.

In June, they grew 303 per cent, 42 per cent and 470 per cent year-on-year to record monthly volumes of 2,827, 757 and 2,683 contracts. Sterling/Dollar, Euro/Dollar and Yen/Dollar futures achieved H1 volumes of 56,185, 78,833 and 8,828 contracts.
 
DGCX's precious metals products have shown increased participation on last year. H1 volumes of DGCX Gold futures climbed 6 per cent to reach 255,724 contracts valued at $11.88 billion, while Silver rose 69 per cent to reach 29,781 contracts, the DGCX statement said.
 
Meanwhile, the WTI crude futures monthly volume grew 9 per cent in June to reach 4,560 contracts valued at US $441 million, it added.-TradeArabia News Service