Significant geo-political events, rising oil prices and inflation, as well as anticipated hikes in interest rates continued to drive strong trading activity on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) during the month of April.
The group recorded a high monthly Average Open Interest (AOI) of 123,368 contracts – and registered trades with a total value of USD 12.31 billion. Activity for the month was also driven by the exchange’s Indian Rupee (INR) product suite, the Pakistani Futures Contract as well as a notable uptick in the trading of gold.
Notably, the DGCX’s Pakistani Rupee (PKR) Futures Contract also generated the highest Open Interest (OI) as well as the highest ADV since its launch in 2021, trading a total of 7,631 lots valued at USD 82.14 million, during the month.
There was an increased demand for Indian rupee backed assets, with the DGCX’s Rupee Mini Volume Contract recording a strong year-on-year (Y-O-Y) Average Daily Volume (ADV) growth of 65.65%. The DGCX’s Weekly INR-US Dollar (USD) Futures Contract also traded strongly, with a YTD volume growth of 143.81% compared to the year before.
Elsewhere, there was mounting interest in safe-haven assets, as the DGCX’s Shari’ah Spot Gold Futures Contract recorded a YTD volume growth of 268.75% from the year before, as investors looked to hedge against market volatility.
Les Male, CEO of DGCX, said:
“During the month of April, we recorded higher levels of trading activity than previous months. Our Indian Rupee Product suite as well as Pakistani Future Contracts continued to drive the lion’s share of activity on the exchange, in addition to precious metal-backed assets. We expect activity to remain robust in the coming months as market participants look for ways to hedge their risk amid a period of heightened market volatility.”
The DGCX also hosted a webinar during the month – focused on the DGCX Group’s Technology Migration project – which is on track to go live in the second quarter of 2023. The webinar discussed updates on the overall progress of the project, key milestones, further details on previously announced changes, as well as the impact of the project on the trading, clearing and technology services provided by the DGCX Group.
