The Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX), the first multi-asset exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, on Sunday said that it has achieved a major milestone with its total cumulative trading turnover crossing the $50 billion mark on the 1st of February 2013 and the total trading volume increasing to over four million contracts.
The compounded monthly growth rate of the BFX trading volume for the period between December 2011 and January 2013 was 69% per month, indicating the rapid growth in the BFX derivatives segment primarily due to the increase in the BFX membership and overall market participation.
For the period between the launch date on the 23rd of November 2011 and the 8th of February 2013, the total cumulative trading volume has increased to 4.37 million contracts, with a cumulative trading turnover of approx. $52.85 billion.
The highest daily trading volume of 118,495 contracts was recorded on the 17th of January 2013. The trading volume on the BFX markets reached 1 million contracts in 258 trading days; whereas, the 4 million contracts mark was achieved in only 51 trading days. Similarly, the trading turnover on the BFX markets reached USD 25 billion in 246 trading days, as compared to the next USD 25 billion mark in 63 trading days.
The BFX Futures are currently available on the USD Dollar versus the Indian Rupee (USD-INR) currency pair, Euro versus the US Dollar (EUR-USD) currency pair, Gold, Silver and Natural Gas. Other innovative products in the pipeline include the BFX MCX $ Gold and Silver Futures as well as Options contracts on the USD-INR currency pair.
“A good set of trading figures to start year 2013 is a positive indicator for the effectiveness of our strategy in balancing between attracting higher liquidity and the selected products we have listed in our Exchange, and further reinforces a promising long-term growth in the regional capital markets.” He also added: “Factoring-in today’s market appetite, we have recently launched Futures contracts on Silver and INR-USD currency pair and we are pleased to report that as a result, the trading volume on the BFX markets during the first 29 calendar days of Q1 2013 is already 143% of the total trading volume during the entire Q4 2012. Excellent opportunities for hedging, investments and arbitrage continue to attract a diverse range of market participants from all across the region,” Arshad Khan, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the BFX and the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC), said.