March volumes on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) registered a growth of 141 per cent from the previous year to reach 550,735 contracts, the highest ever monthly volumes achieved by the Exchange.

March volumes represent a value of $22.8 billion.

Year-to-date volumes saw a huge jump of 126 per cent from 2011 to reach 1,545,899 contracts at the end of March while average daily volume increased 152 per cent from last year to reach 25,033 contracts.

A 197 per cent year-on-year rise in currency volumes was the mainstay of volume growth in March. Indian Rupee continued to be a standout performer among currency futures, achieving its highest ever monthly volume of 495,153 contracts in March, a rise of 257 per cent from last year.

Meanwhile, Australian Dollar futures grew 24 per cent from last year to touch 2,150 contracts. Sterling/Dollar and Dollar/Yen futures grew 69 per cent and 96 per cent from February reaching 4,376 and 1,869 contracts respectively.

Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of DGCX said, “DGCX’s record-breaking performance in March has been driven by the Exchange’s initiatives to catalyse liquidity and volume growth in its contracts.”

“With uncertainty high in today's economic environment, the Exchange offers a unique platform to both mitigate risk and benefit from currency and commodity volatility. We expect sustained growth in trading volumes across precious metals, energy and currencies on DGCX.”

Among precious metal futures, gold saw brisk trading in March, rising 34.2 per cent from the previous month to aggregate 37,189 contracts. Silver futures declined 30 per cent from February to end March with 1,057 contracts. – TradeArabia News Service