CME: Comex Gold Futures Margin Requirements Raised 27%

Exchange operator CME Group Inc. (CME) raised collateral requirements for trading gold futures for the second time this month Wednesday as gold prices climb to fresh records.

CME said gold margins will be raised 27% effective close of trading Thursday, in an email announcement after trading closed Wednesday.

Speculative investors in the benchmark 100-troy-ounce gold contract now must put up $9,450 to open a position and maintain $7,000 of that to keep the position overnight.

The increase comes as gold prices plunged over $100 and traded below $1,800 for the first time in three days.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, settled down $104.00, or 5.6%, at $1,757.30 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

CME last raised margins on Aug. 11, spooking gold investors with a 22% hike. That day, gold prices slipped 1.8% as investors pared gold positions. But gold quickly shook off those losses, soaring a total 17.6% to an intraday record of $1,917.90 this month.

-By Tatyana Shumsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3095; tatyana.shumsky@dowjones.com

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