MCX launches India's first gold options to mark Dhanteras festival

REUTERS - Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Tuesday launched the country's first gold options contract in New Delhi to coincide with the gold-buying festival of Dhanteras.

"Gold Option contract, with Gold (1 Kg) futures as underlying, expiring on Nov. 28, 2017, and Jan. 29, 2018, are made available for trading from today," the exchange said in a statement.

India is the world's second-biggest buyer of gold, typically importing around 800 tonnes a year, with the metal being used in everything from investment to religious donations and wedding gifts.

"The introduction of options gives a strong impetus towards systematic development and transformation of commodity derivatives market in India, ushering in a new era in price risk management in response to stakeholder expectations," MCX chairman Saurabh Chandra said in the statement.

 

(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)