CME Lifts Gold Margin Requirements

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The CME Group, operator of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, announced late Wednesday it's increasing the margin requirements to trade gold.

CME said the initial requirement to trade 100-ounce gold futures is rising 27% to $9,450 from $7,425 previously, while the maintenance margin would be boosted to $7,000 from $5,500. The changes are effective on Thursday.

The move follows a lift of margin requirements by the CME earlier this month, and a similar boost by the Shanghai Exchange earlier this week.

Gold for December delivery plummeted $104 to close at $1,757.30 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, putting the yellow metal down more than $150 in the past two days after it climbed above $1,900 an ounce.

The SPDR Gold Trust(GLD) ETF lost 3.4% to $171.65 on Wednesday, putting it down 7% since its close at $184.59 on Monday.

--Written by Michael Baron in New York.

>To contact the writer of this article, click here: Michael Baron.

>To submit a news tip, send an email to: [e-mail]

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints