Nasdaq (Nasaq:NDAQ), the second-largest Exchange in the world by market capitalization, has released its monthly composite of trading volumes and metrics for the month ending February 2017 – the latest figures represent a retreat across the board for multiple segments, per a recent Nasdaq statement.
In February 2017, Nasdaq pared all of last month’s volumes gains across its equity derivatives business. In the absence of any major market drivers, outside of speculative Federal Reserve action, volumes in this segment were lower as Volatility was not a paramount factor during the month.
This was indicated by a figure of 120.0 million contracts, falling by a margin of -7.0 percent month-over-month 129.0 million contracts in January 2017, retreating off its highest performance in the past year. The latest measure did manage to beat February 2016’s figure of 73.0 million, surging 64.4 percent year-over-year from February 2016.
The narrative was similar in Europe over the same month-over-month period, with Nasdaq’s European equity derivatives also registering a decline in February 2017, reporting just 6.6 million contracts – this compared to 6.9 million contracts in January 2017, or -4.3 percent month-over-month.
This fall was exacerbated over a year-over-year basis, justifying a change of -38.3 percent from 10.7 million contracts in February 2016.
FICC Business Mixed
Nasdaq’s February 2017’s figures were also lower across Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities business (FICC). As such, US fixed income volume (in billion USD traded) yielded $1,560 for the month ending February 2017. This justified a decline of -7.5 percent month-over-month from $1,686 in January 2017.
In terms of European fixed income, February 2017’s readings were also slightly improved, showing a steady climb in its volumes month-over-month. February 2017 saw 2.4 million contracts, up 9.1 percent month-over-month from 2.1 million contracts in January 2017 though unchanged year-over-year from February 2016.
