SGX hits records in rupee and renminbi futures

Futures volumes in the Indian rupee and the Chinese renminbi have soared to new daily highs on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), with USD/CNH futures printing a new record on September 8 and INR/USD on September 22.

The pick-up in volumes on the exchange has been supported by the renminbi’s growing status as an international currency, while demand for the rupee has risen due to increasing interest in investment opportunities in India and exchange rate movements resulting from investment.

“We have seen a growing pool of market participants with multi-asset exposure to China and India, and a subsequent increase in demand for tools to manage related currency risk. This FX volume growth is a validation of our cross-asset risk management strategy and our success in delivering margin offset efficiencies to users across the broad range of products we offer,” said Michael Syn, head of derivatives at SGX.

On the record day, INR/USD futures volumes hit a notional of $3.34 billion across a total of 108,417 contracts traded. The pair is the most actively traded FX futures contract on the exchange. As a result of recent growth in volumes in the contract, SGX says it now has a share of more than 40% of the market in INR/USD futures.

SGX has also seen USD/CNH futures contracts hit new daily records, with a total value of $2.59 billion traded through 25,857 contracts. This, says SGX, has reaffirmed the status of SGX USD/CNH as the most-traded listed offshore renminbi futures contracts in the world.

“We are particularly pleased to see a growing number of iron ore futures users hedging their FX exposures on our platform,” Syn said.