Silver Futures Trading Coming In June

[Sunbelt Asia]

Silver futures and night trading to be available in June

The minimum contract allowable is equal to 100 ounces of 99.99% silver with the value calculated at the silver spot price x 100 x THB. So, for example, if the spot price is $49 and the THB is valued at 29.9 to the dollar then the contract value will be 146,500 Baht.

Tick size or minimal fluctuation is in 1 Baht per Ounce. Because of the contract size, each tick will equal 100 Baht.

Commissions and margins to be announced.

Trading sessions will begin on the 20th of June for Gold, Mini-Gold and Silver options. There will be 3 sessions; 9:45-12:30, 12:30-16:55 and 18:30-22:30.

The contract will expire in even months; February, April, June, August, October and December and will have just 3 series available for trade.

The Daily Settlement Price will be the average of the future price in the last 5 minutes of the trading day.

The Final Settlement Price will use the London Silver Fixing Price (as with gold futures on TFEX) multiplied by the currency exchange (THB Fix).

More information about Silver:

The contract size of Silver Futures in the U.S.A is 5,000 ounces per contract and the mini-contract is 1,000 ounces per contract (50 and 100 times bigger than the Thai market respectively).

At the start of the 21st century, gold prices were at $US 288 per ounce and has reached $US 1,508 per ounce or 5.23 times the price of 11 years ago. The silver price has climbed from $US 5.40 per ounce to $US 46.60 per ounce or 8.63 times higher.

At the beginning of last year, gold was at $US 1,096 per ounce, the current price of $US 1,508 reflects a 37.6 % return in 16 months. The price of silver was $US 16.86 in 2010 and has jumped to $US 46.60 per ounce giving a176.4 % return in only 16 months, offering investors a 5 times higher return than gold.

Since the beginning of this year, gold has given a 6.14 % return while silver has offered 51%.

During the ten years from 2000-2010, the ratio of gold:silver peaked at 1:85 and hit bottom at 1:45. However, in 2011, the ratio is 1:32. While many feel that silver is now quite expensive, historically the ratio has been 1:16 so many feel that silver has more upside potential.

Source: UOB Bullion and Futures (Thai) Co., Ltd.

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