The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) released trading volumes figures today showing that Russian traders continue to have an ever increasing interest in the CNY/RUB currency pair. The venue's management thinks the growth is due to its innovations but the Western sanctions might have had a greater role in leading Russian firms to turn to China.
In September, total CNY/RUB trading volume increased 60% month-on-month to CNY 7 billion (RUB 43.3 billion), a new record monthly figure at MOEX. The average daily trading volume in September also set a record at CNY 331.3 million. One hundred and thirty members have executed yuan trades this year according to the exchange. The yuan trading volume was CNY 834 million (RUB 5.3 billion) on September 29, a new daily record since trading in the currency was launched at MOEX in late 2010.
"The increase in yuan Liquidity is due to the rise of client demand for yuan transactions and innovations introduced for the CNY/RUB pair in 2013, such as the introduction of partial pre-depositing of assets to replace the full collateral requirement, the inclusion of the yuan on the list of currencies eligible as collateral, the introduction of instruments with tomorrow settlement, Swaps with 6M maturity, and an extension of trading hours. Our efforts together with increased interest from clients in using yuan for settlement with Chinese counterparties have resulted in greater demand for the currency on Moscow Exchange"s FX Market," said Moscow Exchange Money Market Managing Director, Igor Marich.
Money Market Records
MOEX's Money Market also showed strong trading volume growth in most instruments. The CCP repo volume was RUB 172.4 billion on September 30, a record since the instrument was launched in February 2013. The monthly trading volume of CCP repo rose 28% MoM to a record RUB 2.8 trillion. The average daily trading volume in September reached RUB 128.4 bln, a record since the launch of CCP repo. More than 245 members conducted CCP repo transactions.
The volume of corporate Eurobonds in interdealer repo transactions rose 71% MoM in September to RUB 482.8 billion. The volume of CCP repo in foreign securities (corporate Eurobonds, depository receipts and foreign shares) increased by 33% MoM to RUB 910.9 billion. The volume of corporate Eurobonds in repo with the Bank of Russia rose 43% MoM to RUB 325.7 billion. Deposit & loan operations (deposits by the Bank of Russia, Federal Treasury and Russia's Pension Fund) reached a record RUB 2.5 trln (September 2013: RUB 1 trillion).
"Repo with the central counterparty has quickly become one of the main segments of the Money Market, facilitating liquidity management by members of unequal credit quality. The admission of Eurobonds to exchange repo has provided additional opportunities to raise funds, somewhat mitigating Russian companies' restricted access to foreign markets. We plan further expansion of the list of securities admitted to exchange repo, including by admitting Eurobonds to CCP repo," said Managing Director Marich.
