Non-Spot FX Volumes Grow in January
Posted by Colin Lambert. Last updated: February 10, 2024
Data from LSEG FX and CME Group indicate that non-spot FX volumes helped drive activity higher in January.
While it was a good month for non-spot at LSEG FX – the group does not break volumes down across its various platforms – spot FX volumes drifted off from December, registering $94 billion per day. This is down 5.1% from December and is off 6% on a year-on-year basis. Compared to January 2023, LSEG FX joins EBS as the only venue operators to see a decline on a year-on-year basis, with several registering double-digit growth.
The decline in spot at LSEG was more than made up for, however, by solid growth in its non-spot product set. Again, no granularity is provided in terms of what products traded what (the vast majority is believed to be in short-dated FX swaps), but the overall average daily volume was $361 billion per day. This is the highest non-spot ADV since April 2023, and is up 8.7% month-on-month and up 1.7% year-on-year.
In terms of total volume, LSEG FX activity is exactly flat compared to January 2023, at $455 billion – again this is the highest since April 2023.
With 360T and CLS still to report non-spot data, further evidence of the growth in forwards trading can also be found in CME Group’s FX Link, which recorded its busiest month since September at a notional $1.9 billion per day. This is up 18.75% from December and up 68.1% year-on-year, but is a fraction under the 2023 average of $2 billion per day. CME’s FX futures and options suite recorded a 10.6% year-on-year growth in January.