Dubai Gold Exchange volume rise 20% in May- June ‘06

DUBAI: The volume of metals and currency contracts traded on the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange topped 136,000 in May and June, a 20 percent increase on the prior two months, the bourse said on Monday.

``In view of the sudden sell-off in the global commodity markets recently, prices fell sharply across the board,'' the bourse, known as the DGCX, said in the statement.

The automated exchange is a joint venture between Dubai's government and two Indian trading technology firms. The Middle East's first commodities derivatives exchange, it began trading gold futures in November, silver futures on March 27, and currency futures on June 27. Four-month currency futures contracts are offered in euro-dollar, pound-dollar and yen-dollar pairs.

Member brokers include HSBC Holdings and Standard Bank, the merchant-banking unit of Johannesburg-based Standard Bank Group, Africa's biggest lender. The exchange plans to offer steel, marine-fuel, cotton and freight-rate contracts in the future.