Currency derivatives volume jumps 67% in Apr-May

The currency derivatives space has been on a song with the turnover surging by a whopping 67 per cent to about Rs 11.60 trillion in the first two months of the current fiscal over the year-ago period.

In April-May period last fiscal, the currency derivatives turnover on the bourses--NSE, BSE and MSEI (Metropolitan Stock Exchange)--stood at just Rs 7 trillion. The number of contracts also jumped 56 per cent during the period to 17.57 crore. The currency derivatives turnover in April this year stood at Rs 5. 62 trillion, while the May volume rose to Rs 5.97 trillion. 

Going by the latest data, the turnover has increased manifold on both the NSE and the BSE, but has declined on the MSEI (formerly known as MCX-SX), for the period under review.

The NSE’s turnover rose by over 67 per cent to Rs 6.18 trillion during the reporting period over the same period a year ago. Though the BSE volume jumped over two-times, in absolute terms, it was below NSE’s, at Rs 4.68 trillion. On the other hand, turnover on the MSEI dipped to Rs 73,638.12 crore in first two months of 2015-16 from Rs 1.39 trillion. Besides, the number of currency derivatives contracts traded on the exchanges also surged by nearly 56 per cent to 17.57 crore for the period under review. While the number of contracts on the NSE stood at 9.57 crore, the same for the BSE and MSEI stood at 7.38 crore and 61.42 lakh, respectively. 

Currency derivatives contracts allow investors to take position on change in the forex rates between pairs of two currencies, such as the rupee and the dollar.