OREANDA-NEWS. July 09, 2015. SGX Futures products marked the end of June on a wave of unprecedented demand. Daily volume of futures products soared almost three-fold to 971,009 from June 2014’s 367,816 contracts.

Over the same period, the total contracts traded rose 173% from 7,547,779 to 20,615,043 contracts.  Month-end open interest also increased in the same period, rising 11.9% from 1,356,756 to 1,519,414.

Source: SGX

FTSE China A50 Index Futures Leads

SGX FTSE China A50 Index futures racked up a monthly record volume of 13,973,554 contracts or approximately US\\$169 billion in notional value in June. This is a 54.9% increase from the previous month.

On a year-on-year basis, total monthly volume jumped more than six-fold from June 2014’s 2,295,587 contracts.

Source: SGX

At the same time, average daily volume also soared to an unprecedented high of 665,407 contracts as investors used the futures contract as an instrument to gain access to the China’s equity markets and a risk management tool amidst heightened volatility. The recent support measures enacted by Beijing to support the stock market could shore up investor confidence.

Source: SGX

SGX INR/USD Volumes Soar on Wider Market Adoption of Exchange-traded FX

SGX INR/USD futures trading volumes soared to a record high of 286,959 contracts (approximately US\\$9 billion in notional value traded) in June, up nearly 26 times year-on-year from the 11,165 contracts traded in June 2014.

Over the same period, open daily interest in SGX INR/USD futures swelled to a record 32,198 contracts on 25 June, driven by growing demand from a broad base of global investors seeking efficient currency hedging instruments that offer greater market transparency and robust price discovery.

Source: SGX

Since the beginning of the year, the Indian rupee has maintained its value against the US dollar, depreciating far less than other emerging market currencies, which led to calls from exporters for its devaluation.

With the US Federal Reserve expected to hike interest rates in September, volatility is likely to remain high going forward. The SGX INR/USD futures is one of the important tools that offshore investors can use to manage currency risks associated with their exposure to the India market.

SGX CNX Nifty Index Futures Continues to Gather Attention

SGX CNX Nifty Index futures saw 16.16% increase in monthly volumes to 1,803,160 contracts at the end of June 2015 from 1,552,325 contracts in June 2014.

While CNX Nifty Index gave ground in early April, the equity barometer started to reverse losses in June as better-than-forecast monsoon rains eased upward pressure on food prices and boosted hopes of a further interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India.