The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange will launch its Indian rupee foreign exchange contract on Thursday, June 7, marking the first time that a rupee currency contract will be traded on

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange will launch its Indian rupee foreign exchange contract on Thursday, June 7, marking the first time that a rupee currency contract will be traded on an organised exchange anywhere in the world.

'The DGCX Indian Rupee contract will for the first time enable individuals and companies to have the opportunity to hedge and trade their rupee risk on the transparent and equal basis that an exchange provides,' says the exchange's chairman, Colin Griffith. 'To date, the only market available to hedge rupee risk is the non-deliverable forward inter-bank market, but that is not accessible to everyone.

'However the recent strengthening of the rupee - it has risen over 15 per cent against the dollar in under a year - has necessitated the need for an efficient and easily accessible to all, risk management tool which is exactly what this DGCX contract will provide. As the Indian economy continues to grow at record pace; so will the need for this contract.'

Griffith adds: 'The Indian Rupee contract demonstrates again that DGCX is at the forefront of innovation both in the region and globally. The DGCX was the first derivatives exchange to go live in the Middle East, and this addition to our list of contracts has attracted interest from major financial institutions and corporates across the world who are looking to hedge their rupee risk.'

Each DGCX Indian Rupee contract represents two million rupees. Prices will be quoted in US cents per 100 rupees, with a minimum price fluctuation of USD0.000001 per rupee (USD2 per contract). At any point in time the DGCX will list the current and next two calendar months, plus the next three calendar quarterly months. The exchange will hold a mock trading session for all its members before the launch on June 2.

The Dubai exchange currently lists gold, silver, fuel oil and three currency pairs: Euro/US dollar, sterling/US dollar and yen/US dollar. It recently announced the launch of its steel contract in June.

The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange is a fully automated online commodities exchange, the first international commodities derivatives marketplace in the time zone between Europe and East Asia. The exchange is an initiative of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, a state body, in partnership with Financial Technologies (India) and the Multi Commodity Exchange of India.