MOEX Reports Mixed Volumes in January 2017, FX Still Down

Russia’s largest trading venue, Moscow Exchange (MOEX), today released its trading volumes for January 2017 which showed improvements in bonds and equities volumes when weighed against its 2016 equivalents, but again failed to negate a downward trend seen across derivatives and 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 segments.

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During the reported month, FX market turnover at MOEX slipped -13.7 percent year-on-year to RUB 23.9 trillion ($401 billion) from RUB 27.7 trillion ($465 billion) in January 2016, and also incurring a decline of -22.9 percent month-on-month from RUB 31.0 trillion ($520 billion) in December 2016. This included spot trades of RUB 6.2 trillion and swap trades coming in at RUB 17.8 trillion in January 2017, each lower month-on-month than their December 2016 counterparts.

This month-on-month stagnation caused the FX market’s average daily turnover to decrease by RUB 267 billion or -19.0 percent to RUB 1,139.5 billion ($19.1 billion) in January, from RUB 1,407.2 billion ($23.6 billion) in the month earlier. The figure was also lower by -26.0 percent year-on-year compared to RUB 1,541.4 billion ($25.85 billion) reported in January 2016.

In terms of MOEX’s derivatives market volumes for January 2017, the figure maintained the negative tone, having yielded RUB 7.0 trillion ($117.4 billion) – this represents a loss of -33.0 percent year-on-year from RUB 10.6 trillion ($177.8 billion) in 2016. This also corresponded to a strong drop of -16.6 percent month-on-month from RUB 8.4 trillion ($141 billion) in December 2016.

From January’s totals, futures transactions represented 116.5 million contracts, down from 137.1 million contracts traded in the prior month, whereas options accounted for 6.0 million contracts, lower from the 8.1 million options contracts traded in December 2016.

The amount of open interest, however, was significantly higher as 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 heightened last month, with MOEX RUB open interest rising from RUB 639.0 billion in December 2016 and only RUB 638.9 billion in January 2016 to RUB 740.2 billion in January 2017.

Trading volumes on MOEX’s precious metals market decreased to RUB 4.7 billion from RUB 10.2 billion in December 2016, for gold contracts, while trading volumes on silver fell sharply to RUB 1.7 million from 4.9 million in the prior month.