DGCX set a new record yesterday for the highest number of contracts traded per day since inception. A total of 9372 contracts valued at $267.20 million were traded surpassing the previous record of 7634 contracts achieved on February 27, 2007. The gold futures traded on the Exchange also clocked their highest-ever traded volume in a day at 8527 contracts, exceeding the previous record of 6988 contracts by a big margin. The near-month gold futures contract clocked in an impressive volume of 4525 contracts while the far-month August delivery gold futures added another 4002 contracts to the total volumes. Precious metals settled lower on Tuesday marking a halt to the ongoing rally. Gold futures ended the day with a loss of $4/troy ounce from its previous close while silver followed suit and edged lower by 4 cents per troy oz. In the currency markets, the US dollar witnessed a setback against major currencies, hitting a two-year against the Sterling pound. The British pound breached the $2 mark for the first time in 15 years on Tuesday, after a report showed higher-than-expected UK inflation, stoking speculation that the Bank of England will hike interest rates next month. During March the UK consumer inflation rate surged by 3.1% on an annualized basis compared to 2.8% in February. It was higher by 1% over the BoE's inflation target of 2%.
Trading on Tuesday began on a tame note as the DGCX June 2007 maturity gold futures contract opened for trading with a downward gap of 50 cents at $695/troy oz. Prices thereafter witnessed a setback and reached a session low of $690.50 before climbing to an intraday high of $695.30. The contract finally settled for the day at $691.50/troy oz, logging in a loss of $4/troy oz or 0.58%. Open positions in the June series spiralled upwards by 1662 contracts and ended the day at 3368. Increased trading interest was also witnessed in the August maturity gold contract. Gold futures for August delivery opened at $698.20/troy oz and zoomed to a session high of $700.50 before settling for the session at $697.60; down by $2.70/troy oz. Open positions in the August futures jumped by huge margin 2499 and ended the session at 2550. DGCX July 2007 delivery silver futures contract followed the weakness in gold prices and shed 4 cents or 0.28% from its previous close to settle at $14.12/troy oz.
In the forex market segment, the greenback fell across the board against major currencies. DGCX Euro contract dated June started the session at $1.3565/Euro and declined to an intraday low of $1.3563 before scaling a session high of 1.3628. The contract finally concluded the session at $1.3600, churning in a gain of 0.19%. DGCX GBP contract for June ’07 opened at $1.9901/GBP, which incidentally remained its lowest traded level for the day. Prices thereafter continued to rise for most part of the session and settled at their highest traded price for the session at $2.0067, registering a splendid gain of 0.86%. DGCX June dated Yen futures put an end to its losing streak against the US dollar and marked a gain of 0.46% for the day to settle at an exchange rate of $0.8456 for 100 Yen.
DGCX Fujairah Fuel Oil contract for May 2007 delivery ended lower by $4 compared to its previous close and settled for today’s session at $333.50/metric ton.
In the US energy markets, crude oil for May delivery declined by 51 cents to finish at $63.10 per barrel.
