FXCM April Volumes Contract as Slow Markets Bite

FXCM Group has just reported its trading volumes for the month of April. The total retail trading volume transacted by clients of the brokerage amounted to $176 billion. The figure is lower by 22 percent when compared to March 2017 and by 41 percent when compared to the same month a year ago.

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The average daily trading volume (ADV) amounted to $8.8 billion, which is lower by 10 percent when compared to the previous month and by 34 percent when compared to April 2016.

Active accounts decreased month-on-month by 1,466 to a total of 129,366 as of the end of April. The decline is more pronounced year-on-year with 3,669 fewer clients placing at least one trade during the past twelve months.

This statistic is typical for periods of low Volatility , such as the one that brokers have been experiencing over the past couple of months.

The retail foreign exchange industry continues to be experiencing one of the more difficult periods in recent years. Brokers have been reporting weaker numbers since the start of the year as the risk appetite of global investors appears to be ample. Economic confidence indicators appear to be rebounding, while hard data in the US is still pointing towards a slowdown in growth.

Every tweet by President Trump is closely scrutinized for keys about the future course of US politics, but for the time being the market appears to be increasingly complacent about the future.

While the fourth quarter of 2016 was one of the best quarters for the retail Forex industry in years, the first four and a half months of this year are rather disappointing.