Mumbai, June 7: MCX-Comdex, the country’s first composite commodity futures index was unveiled today, when the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) designed and developed an index that could give a snap shot of sentiments prevailing in the commodity markets. The indices were designed and developed with the assistance from Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta.

The index encompasses futures contracts drawn on commodities like bullion, crude oil and agri-products, representing a diverse sector.

The move by MCX to coin an index to track the movements in the commodity markets could be to gain the first mover advantage when the necessary government approvals are secured for trading in index futures.

At present, the regulations do not permit trading in index futures for commodities. This could change in the near future as the depth and breadth of the markets improve.

MCX and Refco Commodities also announced the launch and listing of Refco-CIX commodity index on the MCX platform.

The CIX index derives value from prices of bullion, energy and agri-commodities being traded on MCX and other commodity futures exchange from India.

The Refco-CIX will be displayed on MCX trading terminals only.

The Refco-CIX comprises of commodity futures and aims to provide investors an index that can be replicated and tracked easily.

Commodity included in the Refco-CIX are based on three parameters, trading volume in rupee volume, open interest in terms of number of contracts and fundamental factor measured by sum of production and imports.