The Financial Futures Association of Japan’s Research Department has today published OTC FX trading volume figures for March 2015.
Whilst OTC FX margin trading in Japan’s evergreen retail FX market during February suddenly fell by 31% from the previous month to 455 trillion yen, a minor increase of 9.3% occurred in March this year, taking total OTC FX volume to 498 trillion yen.
Despite the slight increase in OTC FX volumes across Japan’s electronic trading firms in March, volumes are still considerably short of January’s over 600 trillion yen, which was the best ever month for Japanese OTC volumes, a remarkable feat when considering that Japan already accounts for approximately 30% of all global retail FX order flow, with the vast majority of traders in Japan placing their business solely with Japanese companies.
Evidence of a month of very high volumes among Japanese FX companies began to make its presence felt in January when GMO Click Securities announced its volume figures for January 2015, which stood at $1.2 trillion, which at the time of announcement set a record monthly volume figure for any retail FX company across all jurisdictions.
GMO Click Securities has, along with compatriot DMM Securities, enjoyed extended periods of high volumes. Last summer, the firm reported several consecutive months in which combined volumes exceeded $1 trillion, a level to which the company returned at the end of last year.
Testifying to the strength and stability of Japan’s FX market, the FFAJ had stated that OTC FX margin trading volume of January exceeded the 600 trillion yen for two consecutive months, January’s figures representing a record in monthly volume.
Volumes have tailed off substantially since then, however it is worthy of note that February was a month of low volatility across the entire global industry, contrasting dramatically to January’s frantic acceleration in trading activity after the Swiss National Bank’s removal of the peg on EURCHF which spurred unprecedented volatility.
In other global markets, March has thus far been a month of improving figures for many firms, with Japan’s steadfast FX industry echoing this dynamic.
For the official report from the Financial Futures Association of Japan, click here.