(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Dubai will be first and only place in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region once it will list and offer Indian stock index futures contract on July 5.
The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) along with Asia's oldest bourse Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday announced the launch of Sensex Futures contract.
DGCX Sensex Futures contract is based on the S&P BSE Sensex, the blue-chip stock index of India's leading bourse, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). It is an index of the top 30 companies listed on the Indian bourse.
These futures can be traded from 7:00am to 11:30pm (GMT +4), Monday through Friday. The new contract will be denominated in US dollars and settled in cash.
The new contract is aimed to tap demand from the large Non-Indian Residents (NRI) in the Gulf region, DGCX chief executive officer Gary Anderson told reporters at a news conference in Dubai. DGCX is not competing with BSE Sensex in India, but giving access to more people in the Middle East and specially Gulf countries, Anderson clarified.
He mentioned that the exchange is planning to introduce more products with BSE tie-up most probably this year.
"The contract is part of a planned expansion of our Emerging Market product offering, and will offer an exciting trading option for investors seeking exposure to one of the world's largest Emerging Markets. While the retail segment is a key target market, we are also anticipating strong interest from a wide range of regional and international investors including UNHWIs, professional traders and institutional investors," Anderson said.
DGCX's new equity futures contract will target retail participants including NRIs across the world, existing DGCX members focused on retail offerings, the NRI desks of banks, professional traders trading and arbitraging Indian markets offshore and large foreign institutional investors seeking exposure to Indian equity markets.
BSE managing director Ashishkumar Chauhan added that the new index contract will appeal to the Mena's huge Indian population. "We don't see any other tie-up for futures contract in the region," Chauhan said.
"This launch is a key milestone for us since it is the first time we have partnered with an exchange in the Mena region to launch an equity-based derivatives product. DGCX Sensex Futures will provide investors with an important tool for managing their portfolios benchmarked to BSE's equity indices," he said.
"Given that a large number of NRIs reside in the Middle East region, we are confident about the Sensex futures contract's potential to generate high interest and trade volumes in line with interest in other jurisdictions," he added.
DGCX's product suite already covers a diverse range of sectors including precious metals, base metals, currencies and energy. This includes the world's first Indian Rupee futures contract and the Middle East's first Copper futures contract.
Plastic futures
Anderson disclosed that much-awaited plastic futures will be launched in the current quarter of 2013. "We are looking for plastic futures in Q3 this year," Anderson said.In December 2008, DGCX first announced the launch of plastic futures from February, 2009. But postponed the plan citing market conditions.
"Although the product is ready to launch, the plastics industry needs more time to prepare for trading the contracts, particularly in light of the current economic climate," DGCX said on February 5, 2009.
Anderson mentioned that the exchange is looking for tie-up with commodity exchange in China to launch it here in US dollar.
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