Just over four months after the launch of its gold and silver futures, Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) was yet to make a major dent in the precious metals market share held by New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex).
While the anticipated battle between electronic versus pit traded metals has not evolved, CBoT officials insisted that they are pleased with the progress its full-sized gold and silver futures have made so far, while market participants remained optimistic about the products' chances.
In a one-day snapshot last Tuesday, CBoT traded 1,111 gold futures with an open interest of 3,201. Full-sized silver futures traded 170 contracts with open interest of 800. Nymex, which still trades gold and silver in the Comex pits, traded almost...