Plus500 Reveals Trading is Robust Amidst Increased Volatility

Plus500 has started 2020 with a bang, with the online trading platform announcing this Friday in a trading update that it has experienced a period of heightened market activity.

In particular, the contracts for difference (CFD) trading provider has seen heightened volumes of trading across the global markets, which has led to a significant uptick in customer trading activity.

Because of this, the London-listed company explained that its financial performance in the first quarter of 2020 to date is trending substantially ahead of the final quarter of last year.

In the trading update published through the London Stock Exchange's (LSE) news service, Plus500 said: "It is too early to say what impact this outperformance in the current quarter will have on the outcome for 2020 given heightened levels of Volatility Volatility In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders In finance, volatility refers to the amount of change in the rate of a financial instrument, such as commodities, currencies, stocks, over a given time period. Essentially, volatility describes the nature of an instrument’s fluctuation; a highly volatile security equates to large fluctuations in price, and a low volatile security equates to timid fluctuations in price. Volatility is an important statistical indicator used by financial traders to assist them in developing trading systems. Traders Read this Term in the market may not persist, whilst the impact of Australian regulatory changes previously referred to is yet to be quantified."

Is Coronavirus Coronavirus The outbreak of Covid-19 or Coronavirus in early 2020 has since redefined the financial services industry. Brokers have been forced to quickly adapt to several changes, both positive and negative.This includes the FX industry, which saw surges in volumes across the retail and institutional space in Q1 2020. This trend can be explained by an outflow of volatility, coupled with countries taking major moves to stabilize their respective economies.In conjunction with uncertainty caused by the virus, The outbreak of Covid-19 or Coronavirus in early 2020 has since redefined the financial services industry. Brokers have been forced to quickly adapt to several changes, both positive and negative.This includes the FX industry, which saw surges in volumes across the retail and institutional space in Q1 2020. This trend can be explained by an outflow of volatility, coupled with countries taking major moves to stabilize their respective economies.In conjunction with uncertainty caused by the virus, Read this Term to thank?

In the trading update, the company has not given specific details as to the uptick in trading, so it is not clear how much trading has increased and what exact period the trading provider experienced the heightened activity.

However, Reuters has pointed out that the boosted trading is a result of Coronavirus, as fears of a pandemic have seen the CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered to be Wall Street's fear gauge, climbing to a two-year high in the last session.

As Finance Magnates reported, Plus500 managed to close out 2019 on a strong footing, after a weak first half of the year. For H2 of 2019, revenues increased by 40 percent to reach $206.5 million, up from $148.0 million in H1 of 2019.

Net profit in the second half of 2019 increased dramatically, climbing from $51.6 million in the first half of the year to $100.1 million in H2, representing an increase of 94 percent.