FX Volumes Plunge 45% at the ICE During October

The IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) has reported its October trading volumes. During the month, average daily volumes (ADV) of all products were 3,336,613 contracts, 4.3% above September’s figures and 1% below the same period in 2012. Powering the MoM volume growth was the ICE’s Natural Gas and Power futures, the Exchange ’s most heavily traded products, with growth of 5.5% and 56% respectively.

In the ICE’s FX unit, ADVs tumbled 44.6% to 20,440 contracts from 36,863 in the previous month. Along with the rest of the FX industry, the ICE experienced declines in volumes since hitting a year high of ADV in June of 59,919. The October data though was well below activity seen in other venues. Unlike other leading public FX venues, ICE volumes are primarily composed of their Dollar Index future products. As a result, the Dollar Index futures appear to be struggling due to a lack of clarity of potential monetary policy changes from the FED.