China's futures market sees over 30-pct growth in transaction value in Sept

Futures trading in China registered a significant increase in transaction value in September, with a clear trend towards structural optimization in the market, data showed on Monday.

Calculated on a single-side basis, the transaction value of the futures market hit 71.5 trillion yuan (about 10.05 trillion U.S. dollars) last month, up 33 percent, according to data from the China Futures Association.

The transaction volume of the market stood at 770 million contracts in September, down 3.03 percent year on year.

From January to September, the cumulative volume of futures trading increased by 18 percent to some 6.7 billion contracts.

The total transaction value of the market surged by 24.11 percent to over 547 trillion yuan during the period.

"The overall market shows a situation of 'decreased volume but increased value'. This is mainly due to the divergence across sectors. The transaction volume of agricultural products, such as traditional soybeans and oils, has seen a certain decline, while the precious metals sector, which has been highly sought after, experienced comprehensive and significant growth. The active trading of high-value products has driven the overall increase in transaction value," said Yang Yinghui, deputy general manager of COFCO Futures.

Yang said that global factors have spurred investor activity, particularly in the precious metals sector.

"The U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate in September led to a significant surge in investors' interest in precious metals. Additionally, uncertainties caused by U.S. tariff policies heightened investors' risk aversion sentiment toward precious metals, resulting in highly frequent trading," she said.

In the financial market, the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) recorded a transaction volume of more than 35 million contracts for financial futures and options in September, accounting for 4.5 percent of the national market.

The CFFEX handled over 29 trillion yuan in transactions last month, accounting for 41.42 percent of the national market.

China's futures market sees over 30-pct growth in transaction value in Sept

Hungarians voted in parliamentary elections on Sunday, with about 8.1 million people eligible to cast ballots, according to the National Election Office.

Polls opened at 06:00 local time and closed at 19:00, with initial results expected late on Sunday evening.

Of the total, about 7.6 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in person at more than 10,000 polling stations nationwide, while some 500,000 were eligible to vote by mail.

Five parties or alliances are competing in the election. The latest opinion polls showed strong support for both Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz-Christian Democratic People's Party alliance and the opposition Tisza party led by Peter Magyar.

Among smaller parties, the far-right Our Homeland Movement is seen as having a chance to enter parliament, while others, including the Democratic Coalition and the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, are widely viewed as unlikely to cross the threshold.

This election marks Orban's fourth parliamentary race since returning to power in 2010, with the outcome set to determine whether he can secure a fifth consecutive term.

Under Hungary's electoral law, parliamentary elections are held every four years. The Hungarian parliament has 199 seats, including 106 filled through direct elections in single-member constituencies and 93 allocated to parties that enter parliament. The party or alliance that secures a majority of seats has the right to form a government.

Hungarians vote in parliamentary elections