SGX's FX Futures Surge to Record 3.42M Contracts, Hit $205B in Sept

The total volumes of forex futures traded on the Singapore Exchange Group (SGX) FX reached an all-time high of 3.42 million contracts in September 2022.

This is as the volume of FX futures traded on the platform jumped 31% month-over-month (MoM), reaching a total notional traded value of over US$205 billion.

SGX Group disclosed these figures on Tuesday in its market statistics for September 2022.

In August, total forex futures traded on the platform stood at 2.6 million contracts, which is a 31% jump from the previous year's figure.

However, by the end of the third quarter that ended September, the volume improved to 8.55 million contracts, which is a 32% year-on-year (YoY) increase.

“Market expectations for the U.S. Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates fueled volatility on key Asian currencies including the renminbi (RMB) and Indian rupee, driving risk-management demand,” SGX explained.

Additionally, the derivatives exchange said the SGX USD/CNH futures volume spiked to record 1.6 million contracts, which is a 36% MoM and 73% YoY increase.

Open interest in the currency futures also shot up 19% YoY, reaching US$11.12 billion in September 2022.

SGX said the record output consolidated the USD/CNH’s position “as the world’s most widely traded international RMB futures.”

Also, contract positions on the SGX INR/USD futures jumped 25% MoM to 1.63 million contracts, which is also a 26% YoY increase.

Broader Market Performance

In August, SGX Group, which comprises the Baltic Exchange, BidFX, MaxxTrader, Climate Impact X and Energy Market Company, among others, reported a net profit of S$456 million.

Last month, SGX Group’s total derivatives trading volume jumped to a record 22.8 million contracts, which is a 14% MoM increase.

Moreover, derivatives daily average volume (DDAV) in the month improved 14% MoM to 1.05 million contracts, with a record single-day volume of 2.97 million contracts on September 27th.

Furthermore, on a quarterly basis, SGX Group's DDAV improved 3% YoY and total volume by 4% YoY.

The SGX Group said the record derivatives trading volume rode on the “back of heightened activity in foreign exchange (FX) and commodity futures, as challenging macro conditions spurred institutional demand to manage portfolio risk.”

Meanwhile, in September, SGX FX launched the SGX CurrencyNode, an electronic communication network (ECN) for the trading of non-deliverable forwards.

“The ECN provides FX market participants access to multiple sources of over-the-counter (OTC) liquidity anonymously through a single venue, strengthening SGX FX’s position as Asia’s most comprehensive currencies marketplace,” SGX said.