CME Group’s August ADV Soars to Second-Highest despite Uncertainties

Tuesday, 05/09/2023 | 13:37 GMT by Jared Kirui

The group recorded notable growth across various asset classes, including interest rates.

CME reported a record-breaking open interest in US Treasury futures.

The derivatives trading platform CME Group has unveiled its latest market statistics for August 2023, highlighting an average daily volume (ADV) of 24.2 million contracts. This metric represents a significant surge of 14% compared to the previous year and the second-highest ADV ever recorded for the month of August.

CME Group recorded 13 million contracts in Interest Rate ADV, representing an increase of 22% from the same period of last year. According to the report released today (Tuesday), on August 23, CME Group achieved a record-breaking open interest in US Treasury futures, as it reached 19,823,052 contracts.

CME Group’s SOFR Futures

The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) futures ADV experienced a remarkable boost of 61%, totaling 3.1 million contracts. Additionally, SOFR options ADV surged 117%, reaching 1.1 million contracts. Besides this, CME Group’s international markets experienced an increase of 22% in ADV, totaling 6.9 million contracts.

In contrast, FxSpotStream’s ADV dropped in August. According to a report by Finance Magnates Yesterday (Monday), FXSpotStream recorded an average daily volume (ADV) of USD $60.8 billion, representing a drop from the USD $65 billion reported in the preceding month. While this decrease is noteworthy, it is consistent with the broader trend observed in the institutional FX market.

Despite the decline in ADV, FxSpotStream’s total volume for August reached USD $1.39 trillion, which slightly surpassed July’s figures. However, it is important to consider that August had 23 trading days compared to the 21 trading days in July.

Additionally, FxSpotStream’s spot market ADV value in August was USD $48 billion, which is down from the USD $52 billion reported in July. Although there was a modest increase in the other category of ADV, rising from USD $12.5 billion to USD $12.7 billion, it was insufficient to offset the decline in spot market volumes.

Spot FX Challenges across Regions

In April 2023, the institutional spot foreign exchange market witnessed a softening in trading activities across various regions, with a noticeable decline in volumes. The spot FX trading among institutional investors experienced a decrease in April across global regions.

This trend was evident not only in CME but also in data from industry peers, including Chicago-based Cboe FX, Deutsche Borse’s 360T, FXSpotStream, and Japan’s Click 365. Earlier in the year, CME Group’s revenue surged to USD $1.4 billion during the first quarter of the year, representing its second-quarterly revenue.