Retail Forex broker Alpari has reported its monthly trading volumes for September 2018, which saw a downturn in its turnover relative to last month. The latest volumes came despite a recent rebound in the metrics of institutional brokers, helped by a rise in monetary policy driven volatility that is looking like the main factor driving the currency market this year.
Just one month after an upbeat performance in August, the latest tranche of turnover volumes at Alpari was pointed lower, paring part of the group’s recent gains. More specifically, this entailed a turnover of $116.6 billion in September 2018, compared to $137.4 billion in August 2018, a decline of 18 percent month-over-month.
Despite the month-over-month decline, the first month of autumn did manage to outperform the volumes of the year ago when the group secured a reading of $114.4 billion for September 2017.
Moreover, Alpari said that GBPUSD trading was mitigated, likely due to the chronic uncertainty that characterizes the Brexit negotiations with the EU.
The boost to volatility from Italy after populists have taken power has failed to prop up European brokers even as they battle through a clampdown on the regulation of the sector.
In particular, GAIN Capital’s retail OTC trading volume was reported at $149.6 billion. The figure is lower by 26.2 percent when compared to September 2017 and down by 14.3 percent from August this year. Also during September 2018, Saxo Bank’s average daily FX volume came in at $243 billion, lower by 11 percent when compared to August and by 29 percent when compared to last year. The news can’t come as a surprise in an environment which has been impacted by the new ESMA leverage regulations.
