Rupee futures surge 145% at Dubai bourse

The rupee futures clock total monthly volume of 1,223,960 contracts; Euro futures also witness strong performance

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has said it witnessed a whopping 153 per cent rise in currency volumes in April, led by one of its flagship contracts - Indian rupee futures.

With a year-on-year increase of 145 per cent, rupee futures clocked a total monthly volume of 1,223,960 contracts, while Euro futures also saw a strong performance with a 325 per cent increase from last year, DGCX said.

Meanwhile, the exchange's recently launched Mini Indian Rupee futures, traded 44,161 contracts in its first month of trading. The mini contract, a tenth in size of the main DGCX Indian Rupee Futures contract, provides a cost-effective hedging and arbitraging tool for retail remitters, SMEs and investors.

The first of its kind to be introduced in the region and outside India, the contract began trading on March 28. DGCX achieved a significant growth milestone in April, when its cumulative trading volumes since inception crossed $1 trillion in value.

Since its launch in 2005, the exchange has traded 24.5 million contracts, valued at $1.025 trillion. The major milestone, achieved in its eighth year since inception, comes on the back of a substantial year-on-year volume growth of 139 per cent in April. Volumes in April totalled 1,336,942 contracts, valued at $48.73 billion.

Gary Anderson, chief executive officer, DGCX, said, "We are delighted that our total traded value has crossed $1 trillion since inception, a milestone which represents DGCX's rapid growth as a derivatives exchange since its launch in 2005." Precious metals contracts also displayed strong performances in April, with both gold and silver futures registering a year-on-year growth of 24 per cent.