CME Group Lists Record Metals-Trading Volume For First Quarter
(Kitco News)- Trading activity for the metalsoverall and gold in particular hit a record pace in the first quarter,according to the latest trade data from CME Group.
In a report Tuesday, the exchangeoperator said metals volume averaged 713,000 contracts per day from Januarythrough March, up 39% from the first quarter of 2017.
Trading volume was also above thethree-month rolling averages of 662,000 for the period ending with February,684,000 for the period ending with January and 616,000 for the three monthsending with December.
Gold futures average daily volumein the first quarter rose 43% year-on-year to a record 382,000 contracts, the CMEGroup said.
Copper futures and optionsaverage daily volume increased 44% to 137,000 contracts. At the same time,trading volume for silver was up 34% to 109,000.
For just the month of March,total metals volume rose 39% year-on-year to a daily average of 683,000contracts.
Along with the record tradingvolume, the gold market saw significant gains in the first three months of2018, with prices rallying 2.5%. June Comex gold futures last traded at$1,337.50 an ounce.
Looking at the yellow metal'stechnical picture, prices have seen consecutive gains in the last threequarters, something the market hasn't seen since 2011.
According to some analysts,renewed interest in gold-backed exchange traded products is helping to driveprices higher with investors look for safe-haven investments in volatilitypicks up throughout financial markets.
For the first quarter of 2018,SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), the world's biggest gold-backed ETF, saw its goldholdings increase by 8.62 tonnes to 846.12 tonnes, its highest level sinceOctober 2017.
The first quarter was not rosyfor all the precious metals. Despite the increase in trading activity, and tothe frustration of many investors, the silver market has underperformed asprices ended the quarter down almost 4%. May silver futures last traded at $16.45an ounce.
During the first quarter, the gold/silverprice ratio hit a two-year high and remains elevated trading near 81 points.Analysts have noted that silver has underperformed gold because investors havebeen more interested in gold's safe-haven appeal.
By Kitco NewsFor Kitco News
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