Gold Futures

Introduction to Gold Futures


Gold Futures is a futures contract with gold (96.5% purity) as an underlying asset. Gold is the oldest precious metal known to man and for thousands of years it has been valued as a global currency, a commodity, an investment and simply an object of beauty. The characteristic of gold price movement that do not correlate with the equity market makes gold futures a very interesting investment option. Holding precious metals such as gold in a portfolio can give apparent benefits in the form of speculative gains, investment gains, hedging against macroeconomic and geopolitical risk and or wealth preservation. Experienced and educated investors have long known that gold and related investments can be strong investment choices. Currently TFEX offers 2 type of gold futures.

Characteristics and Specifications

TFEX has defined the characteristics and specifications for Gold Futures, as follow:

Heading


10 Baht Gold Futures


50 Baht Gold Futures

Underlying Asset

Gold Bullion with a purity of 96.5%

Ticker Symbol

GF10

GF

Contract Size 10 Thai Gold Baht (152.44 grams)
(1 Thai Gold Baht = 15.244 grams)

50 Thai Gold Baht (762.20 grams)
(1 Thai Gold Baht = 15.244 grams)

Contract Months

3 nearest even month : February, April, June, August, October, December

Price Quotation

Baht per one baht-weight of gold

Minimum Price Fluctuations THB 10
(or THB 100 per contract)
THB 10
(or THB 500 per contract)
Price Limit Initial price limit is ±10% from the latest settlement price. Should traded price reach the limit, trading will be halted for a certain period announced by TFEX. After trading resumes, the price limit will be expanded to +20% of the latest settlement price.
Trading Hours
Pre-open : 09:15 - 09:45 hrs.
Morning session : 09:45 - 12:30 hrs.
Pre-open : 14:00 - 14:30 hrs.
Afternoon session : 14:30 - 16:55 hrs.
Pre-open : 19:15 - 19:30 hrs.
Night session : 19:30 - 22:30 hrs.
Speculative Position Limit Exchange may announce the position limit as it deems appropriate.
Last Trading Day The business day immediately preceding the last business day of the contract month. The trading of expiring contract will be ceased at 16:30 hrs. on Last Trading Day.
Final Settlement Price The Final Settlement Price shall be calculated on
- the basis of the London Gold A.M. Fixing price announced by London Gold Market Fixing
  Limited on the last trading day and the foreign exchange rate for Baht to US dollar
  announced by TFEX on the last trading day, after conversion for weight and fineness.

  The formula for its calculation is as follows:
  = London Gold AM Fixing x (15.244/31.1035) x (0.965/0.995) x (THB/USD)

Note:
  - 1 troy ounce = 31.1035 grams
  - 1 Thai Gold Baht = 15.244 grams
  - London Gold AM Fixing is based on 0.995 gold
  - The underlying of gold futures contract is 0.965 gold
  - Price per one baht-weight of gold (2 decimal points)
Settlement Method   Cash Settlement

Margin Requirement

Investors are require to deposit Initial Margin with their respective broker before trading futures contract. Brokers will then calculate the profit and loss and add or subtract funds at the end of day via a processed call Mark-to-Market.

- If losses occur and causes the margin account to drop below the maintenance Margin level,
- Investors are require to deposit additional funds to meet the Initial Margin requirement.
- If there are profits above the Initial Margin, Investors can withdraw their funds from their account.

According to the rules and regulations, the initial margin for local investors should be at least 1.35 times the maintenance margin set by Thailand Clearing House Co., Ltd. (TCH). However, as a mutual agreement between brokers and the Futures Industry Club (FI Club), the initial margin is set at 1.9 times the maintenance margin and 1.35 times the maintenance margin for local investor and institutional investor, respectively.

Margin Requirement: Click here

 

Commission Fee

Gold Futures (50 Baht)
The commission for Gold Futures is set as a Sliding Scale respective to the daily contract number, VAT exclusive. For offline and Internet trading, the commission fees are as follow:


No. of Contract

Commission Fee
(Baht per Contract)

 Offline

Internet trading

1 - 5

500

455

6 - 20

400

365

21 - 50

300

275

More than 50

250

230



Mini Gold Futures (10 Baht)
The commission for Mini Gold Futures is set as a Sliding Scale respective to the daily contract number, VAT exclusive. For offline and Internet trading, the commission fees are as follow:
 

No. of Contract

Commission Fee
(Baht per Contract)

 Offline

Internet trading

1 - 25

100

91

26 - 100

80

73

101 - 250

60

55

More than 250

50

46