Warsaw Stock Exchange (GPW) the biggest securities and derivatives exchange in Central and Eastern Europe today announced that the exchange’s Management Board has successfully launched GBP futures on the main market.
Małgorzata Zaleska, President of the Warsaw Stock Exchange said:
The decision to introduce GBP futures is yet another step in making GPW’s offer more attractive to investors. Both currency futures and single-stock futures enjoy strong interest of active market participants.
The addition of GBP futures to the exchange’s instrument list is part of GPW’s policy to expand its offer for investors. Along with USD/PLN, EUR/PLN and CHF/PLN, GBP/PLN is the fourth currency pair futures contract available for trade.
The following futures expiries were officially introduced on the November 21st trading session:
- FGBPZ16 expiring on 16 December 2016
- FGBPF17 expiring on 20 January 2017
- FGBPG17 expiring on 17 February 2017
- FGBPH17 expiring on 17 March 2017
- FGBPM17 expiring on 16 June 2017
- FGBPU17 expiring on 15 September 2017
Paweł Małmyga
Paweł Małmyga, Analyst at Dom Maklerski PKO Banku Polskiego, a Polish brokerage house specialized in serving brokerage, individual and institutional customers commented:
The GBP/PLN exchange rate has been very volatile in the past few months. The volatility started with a sharp depreciation of the GBP following the Brexit referendum, when the GBP/PLN rate dropped from 6.10 to nearly 4.55, representing a decrease of more than 25%. It was a major change because the forex market is usually much less volatile.
The most interesting session took place on October 7th, when the daily variation was more than 6%, offering great opportunities to short-term investors. The sentiment calmed down temporarily until the US presidential election, when GBP started to appreciate against PLN. Whichever turn the currency pair now takes, the GBP/PLN exchange rate is likely to remain highly volatile.
YTD GBP/PLN chart. Courtesy: Google Finance (click to enlarge)
For more information on FX futures on GPW click here.