Volumes Continue to Decline in Japan as GMO Click Reports October Volumes

Photo: Ron Finberg

GMO Click Securities, Japan and the world’s largest retail forex broker by volume, has reported its October FX volumes. During the month, GMO Click clients traded $604.7 billion in OTC FX, while exchange traded Click 365 volumes were reported at $3.94 billion, down 4.5% and 40% respectively from September. After peaking in July, October’s figures marked the fourth straight month of declining volumes for GMO. Adjusting for two additional trading days in October, average daily volumes were $26.3 billion, 12.8% below September.

Despite the declining volumes, new client activation continues to be strong as the broker added 3,616 new clients; the growth was similar to activity in June and July when trading activity was greater. Overall, the decline in trading volumes is similar to results from other venues and brokers that have reported their October volumes. Specifically, after a breakout end of 2012 and first half of 2013, the Japanese Forex market has been cooling down. With both US and Japanese central banks keeping their currencies weak, trading in the USDJPY has been choppy over the last few months which contrasted to its previous trending market. The lack of direction has resulted in reduced volumes as traders are more likely to wait on the sidelines.