As of 21 November 2016, the Warsaw Stock Exchange Management Board has launched GBP futures on the main market of the exchange.
“The decision to introduce GBP futures is yet another step in making GPW’s offer more attractive to investors. Both currency futures and single-stock futures enjoy strong interest of active market participants,” said Professor Małgorzata Zaleska, President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
The addition of GBP futures to the exchange’s instrument list is part of GPW’s policy to expand its offer for investors. Along with USD/PLN, EUR/PLN and CHF/PLN, GBP/PLN is the fourth currency pair futures contract available for trade.
The following futures expiries were introduced on the 21 November 2016 trading session:
- FGBPZ16 expiring on 16 December 2016
- FGBPF17 expiring on 20 January 2017
- FGBPG17 expiring on 17 February 2017
- FGBPH17 expiring on 17 March 2017
- FGBPM17 expiring on 16 June 2017
- FGBPU17 expiring on 15 September 2017
“The GBP/PLN exchange rate has been very volatile in the past few months. The volatility started with a sharp depreciation of the GBP following the Brexit referendum, when the GBP/PLN rate dropped from 6.10 to nearly 4.55, representing a decrease of more than 25%. It was a major change because the forex market is usually much less volatile. The most interesting session took place on 7 October, when the daily variation was more than 6%, offering great opportunities to short-term investors. The sentiment calmed down temporarily until the US presidential election, when GBP started to appreciate against PLN. Whichever turn the currency pair now takes, the GBP/PLN exchange rate is likely to remain highly volatile,” said Paweł Małmyga, Analyst of Dom Maklerski PKO Banku Polskiego SA.
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Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) is the biggest securities exchange in Central and Eastern Europe. GPW operates a regulated market of shares and derivative instruments and the alternative stock market NewConnect for growing companies. GPW is developing Catalyst, a market for issuers of corporate and municipal bonds, as well as commodity markets. Since 9 November 2010, GPW is a public company listed on Warsaw Stock Exchange. For more information, visit http://www.gpw.pl/.