March FX volumes at CME come in at 1.072M contracts per day, up 0.5% from 1.067M in February.
CME Group, which runs the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, surpassed a near-record February with a (slightly) even better March. FX contract volumes (mainly Eurodollar futures contracts) traded at CME hit 1,072,000 per day in March, up 0.5% from February and up 14% from last year. March was the CME’s third best month ever for FX volumes (see chart below), and represented its fifth month in a row with increasing FX volumes.
Other trading figures we have seen so far for March, such as Japan FX volumes, were down somewhat from very strong February volumes, but still very healthy in the overall context as compared to last year.
We should learn more when Forex ECNs such as ICAP EBS, Hotspot FX, FXall and Thomson Reuters release figures in the coming days and weeks. Stay tuned…
While CME’s reported volumes are futures contracts, they typically are a good predictor of retail / spot volumes as well. Those markets are interconnected, and are typically driven by the same catalyst — namely volatility.
For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.