KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — The gold futures contract (FGLD), which made its debut on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives today, got off to a glittering start with 90.2 kilogrammes of gold, worth of RM12.1 million, traded by a good mix of both domestic and foreign investors.
Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd Chief Executive Officer Chong Kim Seng said appointed market makers accounted for 56 per cent of today’s participation, followed by domestic retail (23 per cent), foreign institutions (11 per cent) and domestic institutions (10 per cent).
“We are happy with this (performance). The 902 lots was traded by 64 trading accounts. For us, it represents an interest by the marketplace and I think definitely, we can build on it. It is very positive for all of us,” he told Bernama when contacted here today.
The underlying asset for FGLD is gold assayed to a minimum of 995 fineness.
Chong said the small-sized gold futures contract, denominated in the ringgit, would also enable Malaysians to trade gold in local currency without foreign currency exposure.
“Although US gold price have declined US$1 to US$2 per ounce, the buy and sell spread here is very narrow and it’s only like five sen or 10 sen, and at most 15 sen,” he said.
The price movement on the gold futures market is expressed in ticks. A minimum five sen per gramme movement is equivalent to RM5 per tick.
The FGLD is a cash-settled contract and delivery of physical gold is not required. In addition, it provides market players exposure to international gold price movements at a lower entry cost.
Each gold futures contract is equivalent to 100 grams of gold bullion.
Bursa Malaysia said the pricing of the gold future contract is benchmarked against the London Gold Fix Price, which is the global benchmark for spot gold prices.
There will be two trading sessions — one starting at 9am until 12.30pm and the second session begins at 2.30pm until 7pm. – Bernama
