FX is Weakest Link During Strong Month of CME Volumes

The CME Group has posted its total trading volumes for August. During the month, total futures and options volumes rose 12.5% MoM to 238,980,256 contracts. The figures were 13.2% higher than the same period last year. Leading the way were Interest Rate and Equity Index products, where total volumes rose 22.0% and 15.9% respectively from July. Surprisingly, despite sharp moves in Crude Oil which led to the CME Group reporting record open interest and volume figures for Nymex Brent and Light Sweet Crude contracts, combined Energy products saw a decline in MoM volumes. The overall energy division was affected by a drop in non-crude contracts such as heating oil and natural gas.

The weakest group was in FX, as total futures and options volumes were 16,400,854 contracts, 2.5% below the same period in 2012, and a 7.7% decline from July (Due to August having one fewer business day than July, and on an average daily basis, August volumes were only slightly below July). Among individual major futures contracts, weakness was seen in the Euro, Aussie, and British pound, whose volumes fell 13.8%, 13.2%, and 8.3% respectively from July (see below). Bucking the trend was the Japanese yen, which experienced slight growth in futures volumes. The data contrasts to volumes reported yesterday from the Tokyo Financial Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term, where Japanese yen crosses fell across the board. As such, despite a drop in yen Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, or stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Trad Read this Term during August, volumes may have been assisted by the presence of multi-asset systematic traders that are including the currency within their interest rate product correlations.