Which is the biggest market for gold futures today,in the world ?

Question

For physical gold it is India, but for futures trading volumes I would like to know if there is a dominant market. ?

Answer 1

NYMEX
Gold futures volume of 31,097 contracts exceeding the 24,125 contracts traded in October 1998.

If you are asking which exchange trades the most volume, it would probably be the NYMEX, CBOT, or maybe London. Can't seem to find the actual numbers for recent data.


There is a good resource and an interesting article here:
How to Trade Gold Futures in India
http://www.tradingpicks.com/gold_futures.htm

Good background on Comex, part of NYMEX in New York
http://www.usafutures.com/goldfuturesoptions.html

A wealth of info at the World Gold Council home page
http://www.gold.org/sitemap/index.html

If we take national gold reserves, then most gold is owned by the USA followed by Germany and the IMF. If we include jewellery ownership, then India is the largest repository of gold in terms of total gold within the national boundaries.

Ah, finally, some recent numbers on the CBOT
Previous May 11 Percent
Record Date Totals Increase
Metals Complex Volume 96,630 April 20, 2006 100,589 4%

100 Oz. Gold Futures
Volume 50,068 April 20, 2006 55,670 11%

100 Oz. Gold Options
Volume 4,529 May 9, 2006 5,471 21%

Mini-sized Gold Futures
Volume 20,352 April 20, 2006 26,127 28%

Metals Complex Open
Interest 54,045 May 10, 2006 60,323 12%

100 Oz. Gold Futures
Open Interest 21,497 May 10, 2006 25,361 18%

100 Oz. Gold Options
Open Interest 11,504 May 10, 2006 12,751 11%

Gold Complex Open
Interest 40,711 May 10, 2006 46,281 14%
For more information on the CBOT and its Metals complex, please visit
http://www.cbot.com .

Another good comparison chart on trading volume
http://www.futuresindustry.org/fimagazi-1929.asp?v=p&iss=138&a=862