CHICAGO (Commodity Online) : The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced hikes in margin requirements for some gold, silver and copper futures contracts.
In a statement, CME said initial requirements for gold's benchmark contract rose 21% to $11,475 per contract, from $9,450 and maintenance margins climbed to $8,500 from $7,000 per contract.
Margins are money investors must put up to be able to trade and hold futures contracts.
In silver, speculative traders must put up $24,875 to trade a 5,000-ounce contract. The cost to hold a contract overnight was lifted to $18,500.
Copper speculators must post $6,750 to open a contract and $5,000 to hold it overnight.
Exchanges require market participants to post margins to cover potential losses in trading sessions. CME executives have said margin increases typically take place when markets become more volatile.
CME raised gold margins twice in August. Including the increases that take effect Monday, the margin increases since Aug. 11 total 55%.
