DUBAI, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) in the United Arab Emirates said on Sunday witnessed an uptick in currency volumes and trading volumes in key products.
The increase is predominantly driven by increased investor interest in the exchange's offerings in Euro futures, according to an e-mailed statement from DGCX.
It listed Euro futures traded during August its highest volume since January 2013, "showing month-on-month growth of 77 percent and year-on-year growth of 19 percent," it added.
DGCX's Indian single stock futures also saw volumes growing, by 583 percent year on year. With investors looking for protection after a period of low volatility, Indian rupee options volume surged, leading it to mark year-on-year growth of 40 percent.
Both the Euro and the Indian Rupee gained significantly in value against the U.S. dollar during August.
Gaurang Desai, Chief Executive Officer of the DGCX, said "the increased trading activity in contracts like the Euro and Indian Single Stock futures is an indication that our market participants truly appreciate and are increasingly becoming reliant on wider range of DGCX products."
With derivatives such as options of futures, traders and market participants can hedge themselves against anticipated price fluctuations. By buying a call option, a trader has the right, but not the obligation, to buy an underlying in the future at a specific price, while a put option bears the right to sell an underlying such as a currency or a commodity.
The futures contract, on the other hand, bears the obligation to buy or sell in the future, he explained.
