CME, EBS FX Volumes Down in April

As was the case with other platforms to report FX volume data this week, CME Group also saw activity drop from near record levels in March, and although year-on-year drops were steeper, the Merc’s venues were boosted by intervention in USD/JPY at the end of the month.

FX futures and options average daily volume in notional terms was $73 billion in April, comparisons with March are meaningless due to the latter being a roll. Month, but year-on-year activity was down 33%. Meanwhile at EBS, ADV in spot and NDFs was $65.4 billion, down 24.2% from March – a decline that is largely in line with other platforms to report – but also down 26.8% year-on-year, a drop that was only matched by on platform. FX Link ADV was $4.9 billion, down 22.8% from March, but unchanged year-on-year.

In spite of the general drop in activity, CME hit several records on 30 April when the Bank of Japan intervened in USD/JPY. JPY futures notional volume was $50.8 billion, a new peak, while EBS saw $85.8 billion traded in USD/JPY, the highest volume the platform has seen in the last decade in the pair. There was also a new peak established in JPY on FX Link at $7.4 billion, while JPY options volume that day was $4.2 billion. In all, CME says it traded $140.7 billion in USD/JPY on the last day of the month, largely thanks to Japan intervening for the first time since 2024.

CME says a strong start to the year in FX options on futures continues, with average daily open positioning exceeded $100 billion notional year-to-date – in April it saw a 21% increase in GBP options activity and 10% in AUD, although no notional values are provided. AUD activity was higher generally, with CME saying that asset managers held a record notional position of AUD 12.6 billion in the first week of the month, this was largely due to a record net long position.

Source: CME Group

Lower activity was reflected in the April reading for the G5 CVOL Index, which averaged 7.4 for the month, down from 8.95 in March and 11.21 in April 2025.