Argentina To Have Its First Gold Futures Contract - On November 8, The New Gold Futures And Options Contract Will Begin Trading In ROFEX.

As from November 8, gold futures and options will be traded for the first time in Argentina. This new hedging tool, approved by the National Securities Commission (CNV), will be listed next week and will be part of ROFEX´s Financial Derivatives Division (DDF). “The launching of the gold contract sprang from an initiative of Banco Ciudad, the main participant of the local gold market, which will also act as the product’s Market Maker, allowing traders to find a liquid market”, stated Luis Ossola, ROFEX´s president.

Taking as a reference the most important markets in the world, ROFEX will be the first local derivatives market to offer gold futures contracts, whose reduced size as compared to international contracts will offer the retail investor the possibility to participate. It will be quoted in US dollars per troy ounce (31.103 grams), in line with international trading.

Thus, this contract aims at providing smaller investors with an alternative of price coverage for domestic assets related to the metal.

“With this new contract’s trading, ROFEX will try to expand the local financial market, providing an innovative tool that generates trading records worldwide. According to estimates by the Futures Industry Association (FIA), five of the twenty most traded metal derivatives in 2009 were on gold”, emphasized Diego Fernández, ROFEX´s general manager.