GAIN Capital's Retail Volumes Retreat in September

Thursday, 05/10/2017 | 13:08 GMT by Jeff Patterson
  • Retail volumes were unable to build off last month's momentum despite several market drivers
GAIN Capital's Retail Volumes Retreat in September
Bloomberg

Foreign Exchange and CFDs brokerage GAIN Capital has just reported its aggregated trading volumes for the month of September. The group’s latest retail volumes bucked a seasonal trend, incurring a monthly decline after a highly active August.

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The 2017 calendar year was relatively devoid of a summer lull, as August gave way to unusually heightened trading volumes via escalating rhetoric in North Korea and other political setbacks in the US. Conversely, September featured a number of market drivers too, as well a rebound of the USD, and European elections, though this was not enough to sustain GAIN’s recent momentum in its retail volumes.

In particular, GAIN Capital’s retail clients transacted a total of $202.6 billion in September 2017, retreating -14.8 percent month-over-month from $237.7 billion in August 2017. The latest reading pares all of last month’s volumes growth in this segment, retreating off of multi-month highs in August.

Over a yearly timetable, GAIN’s latest retail OTC volume was also lower, albeit by a factor of -2.5 percent from $207.8 billion in September 2016. The decline in total retail OTC volume was also exacerbated by a differential in trading days in September (20), relative to 23 trading days back in August.

The group’s average daily volumes (ADVs) came in at $9.6 billion in September 2017, down -6.8 percent month-over-month from $10.3 billion per day in August 2017, up 2.1 percent on a yearly basis.

Meanwhile, active accounts in the retail segment totaled 133,813 in September 2017, which is marginally lower on a monthly basis from 133,965 accounts in August 2017. This reading is higher relative to September 2016, gaining 3.0 percent year-over-year.

Glenn Stevens, Chief Executive Officer, GAIN Capital commented: "Stable market conditions and improved customer engagement resulted in consistent operating metrics during the third quarter, including average daily retail trading volume of approximately $9.6 billion for September. As the result of low Volatility in the third quarter, retail revenue capture was approximately 10% lower than the trailing twelve-month level.”

Institutional volumes stagnate

GTX, the electronic communications network and institutional segment of GAIN Capital’s business, saw its upward momentum snapped in September 2017. The group reported a reading of $279.0 billion for the month, unchanged from $279.8 billion in August 2017. This figure is however higher by 49.8 percent year-over-year, relative to $186.3 billion in September 2016.

GAIN Capital’s swap dealer facility registered a decline in September 2017 with transactions plunging 46.1 percent month-over-month to $62.8 billion, compared to $77.5 billion in August 2017.

Meanwhile, futures trading also registered a pullback to 478,196 contracts, corresponding to a decline of -15.8 percent month-over-month when compared to 568,087 contracts in the month prior.

Looking ahead, “As we move into the fourth quarter of 2017, we remain focused on executing on our organic growth initiatives that aim to increase our market share and trading volumes, attract new customers and increase revenue per active account with existing customers,” Mr. Stevens noted.

Foreign Exchange and CFDs brokerage GAIN Capital has just reported its aggregated trading volumes for the month of September. The group’s latest retail volumes bucked a seasonal trend, incurring a monthly decline after a highly active August.

Register now to the London Summit 2017, Europe’s largest gathering of top-tier retail brokers and institutional FX investors

[gptAdvertisement]

The 2017 calendar year was relatively devoid of a summer lull, as August gave way to unusually heightened trading volumes via escalating rhetoric in North Korea and other political setbacks in the US. Conversely, September featured a number of market drivers too, as well a rebound of the USD, and European elections, though this was not enough to sustain GAIN’s recent momentum in its retail volumes.

In particular, GAIN Capital’s retail clients transacted a total of $202.6 billion in September 2017, retreating -14.8 percent month-over-month from $237.7 billion in August 2017. The latest reading pares all of last month’s volumes growth in this segment, retreating off of multi-month highs in August.

Over a yearly timetable, GAIN’s latest retail OTC volume was also lower, albeit by a factor of -2.5 percent from $207.8 billion in September 2016. The decline in total retail OTC volume was also exacerbated by a differential in trading days in September (20), relative to 23 trading days back in August.

The group’s average daily volumes (ADVs) came in at $9.6 billion in September 2017, down -6.8 percent month-over-month from $10.3 billion per day in August 2017, up 2.1 percent on a yearly basis.

Meanwhile, active accounts in the retail segment totaled 133,813 in September 2017, which is marginally lower on a monthly basis from 133,965 accounts in August 2017. This reading is higher relative to September 2016, gaining 3.0 percent year-over-year.

Glenn Stevens, Chief Executive Officer, GAIN Capital commented: "Stable market conditions and improved customer engagement resulted in consistent operating metrics during the third quarter, including average daily retail trading volume of approximately $9.6 billion for September. As the result of low Volatility in the third quarter, retail revenue capture was approximately 10% lower than the trailing twelve-month level.”

Institutional volumes stagnate

GTX, the electronic communications network and institutional segment of GAIN Capital’s business, saw its upward momentum snapped in September 2017. The group reported a reading of $279.0 billion for the month, unchanged from $279.8 billion in August 2017. This figure is however higher by 49.8 percent year-over-year, relative to $186.3 billion in September 2016.

GAIN Capital’s swap dealer facility registered a decline in September 2017 with transactions plunging 46.1 percent month-over-month to $62.8 billion, compared to $77.5 billion in August 2017.

Meanwhile, futures trading also registered a pullback to 478,196 contracts, corresponding to a decline of -15.8 percent month-over-month when compared to 568,087 contracts in the month prior.

Looking ahead, “As we move into the fourth quarter of 2017, we remain focused on executing on our organic growth initiatives that aim to increase our market share and trading volumes, attract new customers and increase revenue per active account with existing customers,” Mr. Stevens noted.

About the Author: Jeff Patterson
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