CME Group FX Volumes Follow the Pattern
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: November 3, 2022
As was the case with the first group of platforms to report volume data, CME Group also saw a month-on-month decline across both EBS and its FX futures and options suite, but a year-on-year increase.
CME handled 1.026 million contracts per day in October, which The Full FX estimates to be $93.3 billion in notional value, down 29.9% from September – which was a roll month and a new high for contracts traded (but not notional) – but up a very healthy 39.3% year-on-year (in estimated notional terms).
During the month, CME hit a new record in JPY futures of over 595,000 contracts traded on October 21 as the Bank of Japan tried to strengthen the yen through intervention, this is a 57% increase compared to October 2021. This was accompanied by double-digit growth performance in EUR (+37%), GBP (+68%), AUD (+19%), CAD (+37%), NZD (+41%) and MXN (+55%). FX options volume was up 7% compared to the previous year.
It was also a good month for CME’s FX Link, which recorded average daily notional volume of $3.08 billion, up 150% year-on-year, but down 25.4% from what was a peak September performance.
Average daily volume in spot FX on EBS was $67 billion across its platforms, a 12.2% decline from September but up 14.5% year-on-year. Year-on-year EBS also saw good growth in its core G3 pairs which were up 26% from October 2021, driven no doubt by USD/JPY, which had its busiest day since November 2016 on the platform.
CNH volumes were up 24%, in spite of a quieter start due to Golden Week in China, while NDFs were up 25% year-on-year. EBS e-Fix volumes were up 6% year-on-year, although no notional values are given. The change in EBS Direct volumes were largely in line with the headline data, falling 6% year-on-year and 11% from September.
