Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd, operator of Asia's third-largest stock market, will introduce gold futures in October, Chief Executive Officer Paul Chow said at a media briefing yesterday. "We will announce details in early July, and it should take about three months for the traders to prepare.

So it should be traded in October," Chow said. Hong Kong's bourse is introducing gold futures as it battles with Singapore's and Tokyo's exchanges for international investors. Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang, pushing to make the city a commodities trading center, this week said the bourse is considering introducing oil futures.

(Shanghai Daily June 20, 2008)