ICAP plc put out today a brief “trading statement” providing some expectations for its soon-about-to-be-closed fiscal half year ended September 30, which included a few interesting points:
- After we saw several slow trading months, particularly at its Forex ECN unit EBS, September volumes have improved. We recently reported an expected in overall industry volumes in September when we released the August Retail FX Volume Index, sponsored by Leverate, as volatility has returned to the currency, commodity and equity markets this month.
- ICAP blamed the slow volume activity at its Forex ECN unit EBS — even the highest-volume month in 2012 is lower than even the lowest-volume month in 2011 (except Dec) — on “two of its main currencies, the Swiss Franc and Japanese Yen, being subject to intervention, which has resulted in significantly decreased volatility…”
ICAP expects to publish its results for the half-year ending September 30 on November 14. Stay tuned…
For more on the global FX market see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.