FX Volumes Remain Flat As Refinitiv Consolidation Continues
Refinitiv, a former Thomson Reuters Risk and Financial business, reported on Wednesday that last month’s average daily currency trading volumes on its main FX trading services were $395 billion. The figures released for December were the lowest in the preceding seven month with the lowest of those being in May when the company’s volumes were $383 billion.
Refinitiv, who saw its FX products averaging daily volumes under the $400 billion mark, showed that after a subdued fourth quarter that volatility was returning to the FX Markets. The recent bull run, which was modest, was one that created for industry players a profitable opportunity from its major venues.
This included those such as Euronext to multiple FX brokerages focused on the retail sector. However, this month the company failed in their attempts to capture volume rebounds and that resulted in their FX products remaining somewhat less based on a month-on-month basis.
Specifically speaking, Refinitiv saw their average FX product daily volume totals dropping under the $400 billion mark. That total relates to the financial data provider’s FX platforms for all transaction types including swaps, spots, options, non-deliverable forwards and forwards.
Consolidation of FX volumes
The figures from December show a 0.8% drop from the $398.0 billion reported in November. The company also was unable to outpace the turnover in trading during the same time in 2018 and that represented a 0.3% decline. Considering December was a month that most major currencies performed well when compared to the dollar and experienced comebacks which were directly related to the potential of an initial Sino-US trade deal between.
The average spot trading volumes increased to $78 billion, up 4% over the previous month but a decline compared to 2018, when it did $90 billion.
After a bumpy road in 2019, the recent improvements, while seen positively, are modest. The figures released by Refinitiv show a trend for most trading platforms. However, considering it is a major wholesale market trading hub, the company shows one of the most comprehensive snapshots of recent activity.