SINGAPORE

- Its euro-denominated Brent crude oil contract for November settlement last changed hands at 60.61 euros ($104.54) a barrel, with only two futures contracts traded, according to its website.

- West Texas Intermediate crude oil for October settlement was at US$73.84 ($100.05) a barrel, with 53 deals carried out.

- Gold for delivery to Singapore in December changed hands at US$1,245.90 an ounce, with 91 lots transacted.

- Euro-US dollar futures for December traded at US$1.2681, with 54 contracts changing hands.

Despite the lackluster volume, the first pan-Asian commodity and currency derivatives exchange said it was pleased and expected volumes to grow in the months ahead. It plans to roll out two new currency pairs on top of four products that started trading yesterday.

SMX expects the gold contract to be a popular hedging tool among Asian traders.

Asked how it would draw market participation, SMX chief executive Thomas McMahon said: “It’s already here. The industry’s demand for hedging, risk mitigation or even commodities as an asset class, it already exists. It just doesn’t exist on an Asian exchange.”

Last year, Asia recorded trading volume of 6.2 billion commodities contracts versus 6.3 billion in both the US and Europe.

The demand in the region is strong enough for SMX to grow its own volumes, rather than compete for trade from other exchanges, Mr McMahon said.

On what would make SMX products attractive to market players, Mr Avtar Sandu, manager of Asian Commodities at Phillip Futures, said: “Firstly, it’s going to be an Asian contract, so you can have benchmarking during Asian time rather than to wait for London to open or New York to open before you can seal the deal.”

The SMX said it hoped to sign 68 clearing, trading and broking members by the end of the year.