CME, Refinitiv FX Volumes Up in June, EBS Down

There was mixed news for the primary FX venues in June with CME Group and Refinitiv seeing an increase in average daily volume (ADV), but EBS declining.

CME’s FX futures and options suite saw 928,000 contracts per day changing hands, The Full FX understands this represents in the region of $92 billion per day in notional value. June being a roll month for CME futures, a large increase from May was expected, and delivered, ADV rising by 34.1%, however the more meaningful year-on-year data also registered a rise, albeit by a more modest 5.1%.

The news was less good for CME’s EBS platform which saw spot FX volumes of $61.1 billion, down 2.1% from May and also down 11.8% year-on-year. CME did highlight one aspect of good news in the EBS report, with its EBS Institutional platform handling $6.5 billion per day in June and $4.9 billion per day over the second quarter.

Given CME has also recently highlighted 50% increases in year-on-year ADV on EBS Direct, and that overall volumes are broadly unchanged across Q2 2020 and 2021 (they are fractionally lower in the current year), this suggests both a diversification in EBS’s business model and a further weakening in the position of the primary venue EBS Market.

There was better news for Refinitiv, which reports spot FX ADV of $89 billion per day in June across its platforms, up 8.5% from May, and also up 7.2% year-on-year. There was also growth in non-spot FX products at Refinitiv, ADV was $363 billion, a 6.8% increase from May and 8.7% up year-on-year.

Earlier in the month, 24 Exchange reported ADV in NDFs of $349 million per day, a 2.2% decline from May.