CME Group is raising margins for silver, platinum, palladium and copper futures as of the end of business Friday.
The exchange operator announced the hikes late Thursday, along with changes in margins – mostly increases — for a number of other markets, including electricity, foreign exchange, natural gas, refined energy products, coal and ethanol.
CME Group said the changes are part of “the normal review of market volatility to ensure adequate collateral coverage.” Margins act as collateral to back futures trades.
For the main Comex 5,000-ounce silver contract, the “initial” margin for new speculative accounts will rise to $7,150 from $6,050. The “maintenance” margin for existing speculative positions, as well as all hedge positions, increases to $6,500 from $5,500.
For the main Comex copper contract, the initial margin for new spec positions increases to $3,190 from $2,860. The margin for maintenance of spec positions, plus all hedge ones, rises to $2,900 from $2,600.
Meanwhile, for Nymex palladium, speculators’ initial margin rises to $4,400 from $3,575. The maintenance margin, plus all hedge margins, increases to $4,000 from $3,250.
In platinum, the initial spec margin rises to $2,200 from $1,980. For all hedge positions and maintenance of established spec positions, the margin rises to $2,000 from $1,800.
The full CME group notice can be seen at this link.
