The demand for forex instruments among institutions came in strong once again with the latest figures for April. The average daily volume (ADV) in trading has improved in venues across the globe, including the United States, Asia, and Europe.
Strong Demand for Spot Trading
Total spot FX volumes on Cboe FX surpassed $1.1 trillion last month, increasing by 13.8 percent month-over-month. Annually, the figure rose by almost 39 percent. Regarding ADV, the number was above $50 billion, compared to $46 billion in the previous month and $39.6 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year.
Although April usually sees modest trading volume, the last days of the month attracted significant trading volumes, which may have been triggered by the swings in the otherwise stable Japanese currency. April 29 witnessed the highest trading volume of the month at $64.2 billion.
Demand Remains Strong in Japan
Meanwhile, in Japan, the demand in the FX derivatives market soared. The Tokyo Financial Exchange reported that a total of 2.84 million FX Daily Futures contracts changed hands on Click 365, a month-over-month increase of 47.4 percent and a year-over-year increase of 49.9 percent. The daily average volume of FX contracts was 129,261.
As always, the USD-JPY pair topped the ranking in terms of demand, with 719,042 contracts for the pair changing hands over the month.
In Europe, too, the demand in April remained strong. Euronext FX, a major platform on the continent, reported a total monthly FX trading volume of $630.8 billion, with an ADV of 28.6 billion. The figure improved significantly from the previous month’s $539.2 billion.
The latest figures came after the demand recovered in March, which is historically one of the top months in terms of trading volume. However, the trends change with the unusual volatility in the market, probably induced by changes in monetary policies.
