Hotspot FX posts 12% gain in volume in April 2013, gap between retail and institutional brokers narrows

Hotspot FX was almost back to peak February 2013 levels in April after gaining 12% MoM reaching $29.5 billion in Average Daily Volume. Most brokers, especially retail ones, reported large gains in April which was another favorable month for the beaten Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term industry.

FXAll and Reuters reported stable volumes while ICAP's EBS reported a 7% increase. Japanese retail broker GMO Click Securities reported $42.2 billion daily volume in April which puts it well above HotspotFX but still quite below institutional industry giants such as EBS who are averaging about $130 billion per day. Second largest broker DMM Securities posted $34.6 billion daily volume with 'western' leader FXCM reaching $25 billion daily volume (retail and institutional combined). This goes to show that the difference between retail and institutional is narrowing as 'retail' brokers are topping some institutional ones and are even getting close to industry household names - something unheard of only few years ago.