ICAP Releases March Trading Volumes – FX Down 19%

Global interdealer ICAP has just posted their monthly volume figures. During March, average daily volumes (ADV) at ICAP’s FX Trading Platform EBS was $120.4 billion, 2% below the same period last year and a 19% decrease from February.

So far we have seen some contrasting data points for March. Earlier this week we saw FX volumes hold steady at the CME and ICE. Also, Australian brokers have experienced continued gains during March. However, Japanese brokers were experiencing a large decline from their record figures as Yen Volatility subsided. As such, the month over month decline at EBS compares to similar results seen from Japan. This makes sense as EBS’s January and February breakout figures compared well to gains taking place in Japan.

In total trading at ICAP, electronic trading volumes averaged $742.9 billion, a 1% decrease from March 2012 and 7% below February’s figures. Among the separate units, only US Repo trading achieved month over month and yearly growth as volumes from the division reached $231.1 billion, slightly above both March 2012 and February 2013 numbers.