(Bloomberg) — Retail investors are pouring into CME Group Inc.’s micro gold futures contract while the precious metal sets another record.
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The average daily volume — an important metric used to assess the liquidity and activity level of a security — stood at 99,527 contracts as of Sept. 11, surpassing the amount for all of 2020 when it reached an all-time high of 86,101 lots, according to data from the US’s largest derivatives exchange.
Investors have been flocking to gold amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve will embark on a rate-cutting cycle soon. The metal also is seen as a haven with ongoing geopolitical concerns from the Middle East, Russia’s war in Ukraine and the upcoming US presidential election. And a need to diversify away from the US dollar reserve system by global central banks also has helped boost the metal.
The robust growth in micro gold futures comes as bullion has rallied more than 20% this year after repeatedly hitting record highs. Spot gold hit $2,560.13 an ounce on Thursday, the highest ever.
Retail demand “tends to have high correlations with the price movement of” gold, especially when it’s in an uptrend, Jin Hennig, global head of metals at CME Group, said in an interview. “We’ve seen that starting late last year all the way into this year.”
CME’s micro gold futures contract was launched in October 2010 with an aim to target retail investors. It is one-tenth the size of CME’s benchmark gold futures contract.
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