CME, LSEG, See FX Volumes Drop in November

CME Group and LSEG saw FX volumes drop in November from both October and on a year-on-year basis, although the latter did see a slight uptick in non-spot volumes compared to November 2024.

CME had a combined $114 billion of notional volume traded across its listed and OTC franchises, with FX futures and options seeing $64 billion per day – the second lowest ADV this year. This is down 5.9% on October and down 24.7% year-on-year. The lower activity is reflected in CME’s G5 CVOL index, which averaged just 6.7 in November, the lowest reading since May 2024 when it was at 6.4.

Reflecting a more strategic approach from traders perhaps, CME did see strong growth in open interest in EUR, JPY, MXN and BRL futures, the first of which, at $120 billion, was 39% higher year-on-year. The Merc says it also saw a 33% increase in JPY options volumes, however notional values are not provided.

FX Link also saw a decline in activity in November, dropping 20% from October to $3.6 billion per day. This is, however, only slightly under the 2025 average of $3.7 billion per day.

EBS also saw a decline in activity, thanks to quieter markets, average daily volume across spot and NDFs was $52.5 billion, down 12.1% from October and off 26.1% year-on-year – it was also EBS’ lowest ADV since February 2024.

As is often the case, LSEG’s FX volumes remained steady in spite of market conditions, spot ADV across its venues was $96 billion, from $97 billion in October, however year-on-year volumes were 7.7% lower. The news was slightly better for non-spot activity, where ADV was $409 billion per day. While this is down 3.3% from October, it is up 6.2% year-on-year.