The Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) has announced its SENSEX volumes for the month ending in April, highlighted by a 41% growth MoM with a total of 819,941 contracts traded (valued at $24.69 billion), according to a DGCX statement.

The DGCX is the region’s first derivatives exchange having achieved widespread success thus far into 2014, with staunch gains across its currency futures and precious metals contracts. Following a robust March campaign, the DGCX traded a total of 819,941 SENSEX Futures contracts in the month of April, which corresponded to a 41% growth MoM.

Join the iFX EXPO Asia and discover your gateway to the Asian Markets

SENSEX Futures Appetite Grows 

The SENSEX futures contract is based in part off the blue chip stock index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) – this service grants investors exposure to emerging world economies. There is a clear demand for heightened exposure into this region, notably in reverence to the explosion of Mini-Indian Rupee contracts earlier this year. As for April however, the largest gains were driven by record piercing volumes across the BSE.

In particular, April 23, 2014 capped a lifetime high in SENSEX trading, as benchmark BSE volumes hit 22,869 contracts – volumes are at historic levels, soaring due to the Indian elections. According to Mohsin Jameel, CEO of Tradenext, in a statement on the BSE volume peaks, “Markets have reacted positively to the proposed BJP-alliance – the pro-business party has been wooing the corporate community, however with an uptake in new voters their might be a last minute shift in power.”

Precious Metals and Currency Futures Notch Strong Growth

While volatility across forex markets has been highly muted as of late, precious metals seemed to experience a resurgence in trading volumes in April. Indeed, the average daily volumes (ADV) for gold futures on the DGCX has now risen 5% YoY since April 2013 – this correlated to 39,738 contracts in April 2014. Conversely, silver futures exploded 637% YoY to 7,385 contracts in April 2014.

In terms of currency pairs, the best performers were the Yen and Canadian Dollars Futures, which experienced a volume growth of 80% and 20% respectively since January 1, 2014.