UAE’s leading derivatives bourse, the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX), ‎has recorded an all-time high of more ‎than 9.5 million contracts in the first half of 2016 as heightened market volatility ‎after the Brexit vote boosted trading on the exchange, according to a DGCX statement. ‎

The standout figure marks the highest half-yearly trading volume with a strong upswing seen across all its asset classes, growing 49.64 ‎percent over the same period last year. DGCX recorded an all-time figure for daily ‎trading volumes in the preceding month, with an aggregate of 150,570 contracts exchanged in ‎the marketplace on June 24th, crossing the 3.55 billion USD mark in terms of traded value. ‎

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The uptick in commodity prices was one the main vehicles of growth at DGCX during ‎June 2016 after a rebound on speculation that supply disruptions and production cuts ‎are whittling away the surpluses that caused the price collapse. Additionally, signs of ‎improvement in global demand had a positive impact on the precious metals segment which ‎witnessed a robust trading activity with 104 percent growth and recorded ‎‎422,537 contracts this year.‎

H1 2016 Performance ‎

Building on the standout performance, the DGCX witnessed high volumes in the ‎currency segment, with its flagship Indian rupee contract signifying the growth trajectory due to mounting concerns over the Indian Central Bank Governor’s ‎impending departure. ‎

More specifically, the exchange reported an increase of 7.71 percent and 20.62 percent in ‎trading volumes of the Indian rupee and Mini Indian rupee futures respectively, ‎while the Indian rupee options contract saw a spike of 164.08 percent. ‎

Fuelled by the Brexit developments, British pound and euro futures also helped lead ‎the charge, surging 163 percent and 121 percent respectively on a year-to-date basis.‎

On the energy front, the marketplace recorded a massive growth of 229.45% in ‎‎1000 Barrel WTI futures. DGCX’s mini sized 100 Barrel WTI contract also touched an all-time high after trading 35,120 contracts this year.‎

Commenting on the heightened trading activity, Gaurang Desai, CEO of Dubai Gold and ‎Commodities Exchange, said: “Brexit, an event of seismic proportions has triggered ‎extreme volatility in world markets over the weeks running up to actual vote and ‎result days. It is in these times, investors look for regulated exchange platforms to ‎hedge their price risk exposures across asset classes.”‎

‎”DGCX is now considered to be an extremely important trading venue helping ‎investors protect their trading portfolios by effectively mitigating risk and market ‎exposure which was evident with DGCX breaking its all-time daily volume records,” ‎concluded Desai.‎