FX Volumes See Inevitable Drop, but Remain Strong YoY

FX volumes inevitably dropped after the record-breaking April numbers, according to the first group of platforms to report, however on a year-on-year basis, they remain very healthy, with increases across the board.

Overall volumes at FXSpotStream dipped below the $100 billion per day mark for the first time this year in May, the service reporting average daily volume (ADV) of $98.7 billion. The decline was almost exclusively in spot, with volumes there falling to $68 billion per day – also the lowest thus far in 2025 – while non-spot volumes drifted to $30.7 billion from $31 billion in April.

On a year-on-year basis, however, FXSpotStream continues to power ahead. Overall volumes are up 14.25% from May 2024, and spot ADV is up 9%, while non-spot volumes, something that has been a solid growth area for the service, were up 27.9% year-on-year.

It was a similar story at 360T, which also recorded its quietest month of the year to date in spot across its venues, albeit at an impressive +24.3% up year-on-year. Spot ADV was $32.7 billion, which is down from April’s record $39.6 billion, with the drop in activity led by the majors in EUR/USD and USD/JPY. The former dropped to 25% of 360T’s total volume form 27%, while the latter drifted to 11% from 12%. Cable was unchanged at 8% of volume, while, reflecting the quieter conditions in Asia, CNH also dropped one point to 7%.

There was a shift in activity at 360T in May, with a five-point switch from the New York matching engine to London. The former handled 47% of business – the first time it has dropped below half since the firm started publishing the data in 2023 – while the latter rose to 36%, and Tokyo was unchanged. The average round-trip time (RTT) on 360T was stable at just under 6.2ms.

Spot volumes at Cboe FX also dropped, although not to a new low for the year, which remains January. ADV was $48 billion the firm says, down from April’s record $61.9 billion, but up 13.75% year-on-year. Firm ADV also dropped, to $18 billion from $23 billion in April, but in terms of its overall position, firm volume actually increased its share slightly and was up an impressive 38.5% year-on-year.

The average response time on Cboe FX was unchanged at 10ms, 92% of volume was transacted anonymously, and the non-firm fill rate rose by two points to 89%, very much in line with its year-to-date average.

Euronext FX was another venue to drop to a low for the year, reporting spot ADV of $27.5 billion, down from April’s record $38.2 billion. On a year-on-year basis, ADV was up a more modest 6.6%. In terms of platform performance, RTTs were unchanged from April at 11.6ms to New York and 19.6ms to London, while 29.2% of firm volume was anonymous. Fill rates also improved slightly, but remain historically low – the skew safe fill rate was 78.5% (from 78.2% in April), the full amount stream fill rate was 94.8% (93.1%) and the platform fill rate was 73.8% (72.5%).

In NDFs, both 360T and Cboe FX SEF saw a drop off in activity, the former less so. NDF ADV at 360T was down just over 1% at $1.825 billion, this is up 4.5%, reflecting the steady state of the product line, while Cboe FX SEF handled $3.1 billion, down 10.5% from April, but up a massive 169.6% year-on-year.