Foreign exchange trading volumes on Refinitiv’s platforms jumped by more than 20 percent in March from a year earlier, the company said on Monday, its second consecutive solid month as corona-led Volatility sparked more trading.
Amid concerns over the economic impact from the Coronavirus outbreak, there was a brighter side for FX platforms, which attracted a rush of business as investors scrambled to protect portfolios.
The former Financial and Risk business of Thomson Reuters today reported that the average daily volumes (ADV) of currency trading were $540 billion last month on the company’s main FX trading services. The ADV figure, which includes spot, forwards, swaps options and non-deliverable forwards (NDF), is the highest ever, and also surpasses the previous record set back in the same month a year ago at $465 billion, namely up 16 percent year-over-year.
FX volumes jump
Of the $540 billion figure, $141 billion was FX spot, representing a 37 percent increase over the monthly interval when compared to $103 billion in February 2020. Over a yearly basis, the spot turnover outpaces its counterpart of March 2019, which came at $97 billion.
Other transaction types – including forwards, swaps, options and non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) – averaged $399 billion daily, higher 15 percent from $347 billion the previous month.
The rise in FX volumes will be particularly welcomed by Refinitiv, which had struggled with calm financial markets squeezing their metrics in recent months. Following a bumpy period in geopolitics throughout 2019, the jump in the Q4 volumes has been comparatively modest in relation to the first half.
Refinitiv’s figures reflect the trend observed in the monthly figures from many of the major trading platforms which have seen record-breaking volumes during the past two months. However, given its position as a major trading hub for the wholesale market, the company provides one of the most comprehensive snapshots of activity.
So far this month, Cboe FX, FXSpotStream, and Integral have reported new peaks for activity, and all platforms have recorded strong year-on-year growth.
