MUMBAI, March 10 -- Traders have piled into crude oil derivatives on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) as the Iran-US war triggered sharp swings in global oil prices, pushing trading volumes to nearly three times pre-war levels.

Between 2 March and 9 March-the first six trading sessions after the conflict began on 28 February-the number of crude oil derivative contracts traded on MCX jumped 2.8x to 33 million compared with the six sessions before the war, according to exchange data.

The surge reflects a rush by traders to capitalize on heightened volatility in oil markets after supply disruptions linked to the conflict pushed crude prices sharply higher.

To account for contract expiry effects, activity was also compared with the same ...