Interbank FX volumes up – July 2011

Daily volumes in FX are on the increase as reported by veterans of the industry.

Average daily spot volume on Thomson Reuters’ platforms reached $152 billion in July, up 23% from $124 billion in July 2010. According to the vendor, the increase was caused by a 32% growth in euro volumes over June this year and 116% over July 2010, and an increase in Russian rouble volumes of 17% over June.

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Interdealer broker Icap saw average daily volume on the EBS platform rise to $180.5 billion in July, up from $174.1 billion in June and up 36% year on year. “We saw positive year-on-year variances in most products during July. This was in great part due to increased market volatility surrounding European and US government debt uncertainty,” said David Rutter, chief executive at Icap electronic broking in New York.

In addition, institutional foreign exchange platform FXall this week reported a 37% increase in average daily volume during the second quarter of 2011, compared with the same period in 2010. During July, average daily volume was up 49% compared with July 2010, with a record volume of $140 billion traded on FXall on July 27.

Volatility has been the crucial factor contributing to massive gains in FX volumes. Rapid movements across all currencies as the Swiss franc experienced the biggest gain, strengthening 2.20% versus the dollar and 1.69% against the euro. The yen and euro appreciated 1.39% and 0.50%, respectively, versus the US dollar. For the quarter, the Swiss franc gained 9.64%, the euro rose 1.89% and the yen increased 3.55% versus the dollar.

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