CME to cut gold margins by 10%

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group Inc announced that it will broadly cut margins on such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum and copper, effective after close of business on Feb. 12. To be specific, the initial margins on the benchmark COMEX 100- ounce gold futures contract will be cut by 10 percent to 5,940 U.S. dollars from 6,600 dollars; margins on the COMEX 5,000-ounce silver contract by around 14 percent; those on the NYMEX 50-ounce platinum futures contract by about 13 percent; and margins on COMEX 25,000-lb copper futures by around 11 percent. CME will also cut the maintenance margins by 10 percent to 5, 400 dollars from 6,000 dollars. It is a normal practice for CME, the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges, to adjust margins on major metal futures contracts to protect itself against the risk of participants defaulting. On Dec. 28, it cut margins on gold futures by 11 percent.