Currency trading at Moscow Exchange (MOEX) regained its upward route in September. This was buoyed by a steady rise in Volatility and coupled with a multi-year effort to bring new business to the platform. However, volumes remained well below its 2020 peak seen in March.
September was a particularly volatile period for the global financial markets as concerns are building up that a second wave of COVID-19 pandemic could rock the nascent economic recovery. Investors also ramped up bets on new stimulus measures from central banks. Though, the MOEX numbers followed stronger trading volumes from rival foreign exchange venues.
MOEX’s total FX market turnover edged higher to RUB 29.9 trillion ($382 billion) last month, up 11 percent month-over-month from the RUB 27.0 trillion exchanged hands in August 2020. Compared with volumes from the same month a year earlier, this figure was up 19 percent from RUB 25.1 trillion in September 2019 but virtually unchanged in dollar terms when weighed against $384 billion.
FX Volumes Also Rebound at Rivals
The average daily volumes in September 2020 reached RUB 1.357 trillion ($17.9 billion), up 5.4 percent against RUB 1.287 trillion in the prior month, Moex said in a statement. Year-over-year, the ADV figure was up 14 percent from RUB 1.193 trillion in 2019.
Additionally, September 2020’s turnover included spot trades of RUB 9 trillion ($114 billion), up 61 percent from a year ago, and swap trades coming in at RUB 20.8 trillion ($265 billion).
Moreover, FX trading on Russia’s mega bourse, as well as on those of its competitors, has had a record start to the year as a rise in volatility from multi-year lows and a flurry of policy changes supported more currency transactions. Even before that, the exchange’s FX volume was able to recover from recent lows as it continues to develop its infrastructure as part of a state-backed drive to make Moex one of the world’s leading financial hubs.
According to its recent data, 1.8 million retail investors opened accounts with Moscow Exchange (MOEX) in the first seven months of 2020, ploughing more than $16 billion into shares during a volatile month’s trading.
After several lackluster months, the latest metrics from major institutional spot FX platforms show the FX market has bounced back with hefty jumps in daily trading volumes.
