Dubai's DGCX launches new silver and WTI futures contracts

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - The Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) said on Wednesday it would list two new futures contracts to trade as of Friday. The derivatives bourse said the first, the India Silver Quanto Futures contract, would trade before and after the closure of Indian markets to offer traders increased trading opportunities and would be cash settled and denominated in U.S. dollars. The second contract will be the Mini WTI contract sized at 100 barrels and will look to provide market participants cross margin benefits with the exchange's existing WTI futures contract. "The introduction of a Mini sized WTI contract is a logical step to ensure our participants have greater accessibility to the energy markets," CEO Gaurang Desai said in a statement. "The Mini WTI contract will enable price discovery for many new market participants, offering protection and hedging opportunities to all," he said. The bourse had announced plans for a spot gold contract early last year as part of its growth as a top trading centre for the precious metal. The launch was originally scheduled for June 2014, but has been repeatedly delayed. DGCX has said it was talking with a local bank about the contract. (Reporting By Maha El Dahan, editing by David Evans)