KARACHI, May 16: The recently-inaugurated National Commodity Exchange Limited (NCEL) may not be able to start physical trading in gold by Friday owing to some technical factors including proper launching premises, market sources said on Wednesday.

Officials associated with the exchange were not available for comments on the delay. Bullion market operators confirmed to Dawn that they had turned down the request of the commodity exchange officials to shift trading.

“The NCE officials approached us to use their facilities for launching forward trading in bullion bars but we have declined to operate with them,” a trader at the bullion market said.

Bullion market sources said both the ready and the forward trading in gold could not be done on the ready board simultaneously for a number of reasons including price fluctuations and their impact on the both.

Sources in the Karachi Cotton Exchange, which has decades-old hedging facilities, said that they were also reluctant on the plea that forward trading in cotton futures should also be allowed in the NCEL side by side other commodities.