Hotspot FX Volumes Decline in October

ECN venue Hotspot FX released its October trading volumes today. Average daily volume (ADV) for the month was $22.7 billion, down 11.9% from September and 33.4% below October 2011 figures. Among publicly reporting venues, Hotspot FX's market share stood at 6.9%. Overall, the drop in trading activity followed similar reports from other reporting venues. In individual currencies, notable volume was registered in the USDZAR which jumped to the 12th most active currency pair from number 19 last month, as its total share of volumes rose to 0.73% from 0.28%.

Hotspot is part of the Knight Capital Group a listed firm on NASDAQ.

Knight Capital (KCG:NlYSE) shares closed today at $2.37.

Volume Snapshot

In October 2012, Hotspot FX posted an Average Daily Volume (ADV) of $22.7 billion with a total of $522.9 billion transacted on the platform. Among publicly reported spot FX volumes (Hotspot FX, ICAP/EBS, Reuters, FXall), Hotspot FX accounted for 6.9%* of the market in October 2012, up slightly vs. September.

October 2012 Statistics (Single Count, USD)

• Hotspot FX posted an ADV of $22.7 billion. (based on 23 trading days)
• ADV decreased 11.9% versus September 2012. (September 2012 ADV: $25.8 billion)
• ADV decreased 33.4% versus October 2011. (October 2011 ADV: $34.1 billion)
• Total Volume: $522.9 billion.

Monthly Statistics:

USD Dollar Value Traded Average Daily Volume (ADV)

October 2012 $522.9 Billion $22.7 Billion

October 2011 $717.0 Billion $34.1 Billion

Volume Breakdown

In October 2012, the Asian session continued its positive trend and increased by 1.78%. Additionally, the European session slightly increased by .32%. In contrast, activity during the American session declined by 2.08%.

Volume percentages by time zone were:

Asia Europe Americas

Volume Percentage (October 2012) 14.07% 46.37% 39.56%

Volume Percentage (September 2012) 12.29% 46.05% 41.64%

The Top five currency pairs by volume percentage were as follows:

Currency Pair EUR/USD AUD/USD USD/JPY GBP/USD USD/CAD

Percentage 35.78% 12.16% 11.31% 10.62% 7.15%

In October 2012, the Top 10 pairs remained unchanged in terms of ranking, the exception being USD/MXN which re-entered the listing as #10. Aside from EUR/USD which had a 2.66% decrease in activity, volume fluctuations were minimal. Regarding the remaining pairs, notable activity occurred in USD/ZAR and EUR/DKK which achieved their highest market share on record and catapulted in ranking. USD/ZAR became 12th most active (prev. 19th) with an increase of .45% and EUR/DKK became 14th most active (prev. 20th) increasing by .40%.

Relative Volume Chart

Hotspot FX’s October ADV compares to the following results from other reporting venues:

October 2012 vs. September 2012 October 2012 vs. October 2011

Hotspot FX -12% --33%

EBS/ICAP -17% -46%

Reuters -10% -14%

FXall -10% -9%

CME -31% -23%