|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.60/68 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,350
+ 300
|
|
FUTURES MARKET
NUNTAWUN POLKUAMDEE
Leading gold traders will be offered the chance to apply as brokers and market makers for the Thailand Futures Exchange when trading in gold futures begins next month. Gold futures will be the third product traded on the TFEX, after SET50 index futures and options.
Gold contracts, which are scheduled to start trading on Sept 22, will be based on 96.5% pure gold bars, a standard unit for the local market.
Kesara Manchusree, the TFEX managing director, said the exchange was sensitive to concerns raised by traders about whether gold futures trading would affect liquidity in the physical market.
She said she did not believe futures trading would affect actual gold trading in the spot market, as the two markets appealed to different types of investors.
Gold traders should consider futures as an instrument to help their own operations as a means of hedging price risk or taking speculative positions themselves.
''But it is a new market, and no one really knows what the real effect will be until we start trading for real,'' Mrs Kesara acknowledged.
The TFEX plans to invite the 10 largest gold wholesalers in the country to be brokers and market makers.
The Gold Traders Association has 7,000 members, including 40 large wholesalers and around 4,000 retail traders.
''We hope that the problem will ease. We are trying to educate the market as much as we can, and hope that [gold traders] join us in developing the market together,'' Mrs Kesara added.
Each contract is worth 10 baht-weight (152 grammes) of gold. No physical delivery of gold will be made upon expiration, with settlement made in financial terms only.
''Taiwan is already quite active in gold index trading, while Hong Kong will begin trade in October,'' Mrs Kesara said.
The launch of gold futures is expected to help spur development in other types of instruments.
Teeraphan Jittalarn, a senior executive vice-president at Krung Thai Asset Management, said the company was studying the possibility of launching a new gold fund.
''Investors today have limited choices in alternative investments, so I think this is a good opportunity to develop products that help investors diversify their portfolios,'' he said.
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