Gold futures contracts (DG) on Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) reached an all-time high of $1096 per ounce yesterday, surpassing previous high of $1072 per ounce recorded on October 14 this year.

The gold futures contract is likely to touch $1140 in the near future, say analysts.

The exchange started trading in gold futures in 2006.

"Institutions and high net worth investors are switching over to gold and euro currency from the US dollar. I think the price is likely to touch $1140 per ounce in the immediate future," Binny C Thomas, Managing Director of DBFS Commodities DMCC, told Emirates Business. The DG for December delivery was hovering at $1091.90 and registered the highest volume of 1958 contracts at 7pm among all products on DGCX. The exchange closes at 11pm.

Considering the Reserve Bank of India's buying, market players are of the opinion that central banks are looking to buy gold and it is not coming into the market. This prompted them to cover and as a result of this, fresh buying binge took the gold into limelight.

Meanwhile, DGCX recorded a total of 1,142,814 contracts valued at $ 58bn in 2009 until Monday. This is a record volume for the exchange and surpasses the total volume of 1,142,293 contracts transacted in 2008.

The commodity exchange recorded gold futures volume of 64,613 contracts for October, a 84 per cent rise, when compared with the same period last year. Silver futures increased to 4,081 contracts in October, up from 40 contracts the previous year.

Eric Hasham, CEO, DGCX, said: "DGCX gold futures contracts have seen increased interest from a range of market participants. Amid uncertain economic conditions, gold has hit record price highs of late. The benefit of trading DGCX gold futures contracts is that it offers a way for users to protect themselves against the underlying gold price either falling or rising in the future."

DGCX recorded a total volume of 137,994 contracts in October, an year-on-year increase of 159 per cent valued at $7.2bn. Trading activity in October was supported by growth in all product segments, precious metals, energy and currencies.

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