CME Group’s EBS Spot FX Returns Near Flat Growth in November

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group's Electronic Broking Service (EBS) posted a near-flat 0.3% growth rate in spot forex trading in November, generating $67.2 billion in the average daily notional value (ADNV). In October, the numbers came in at $67 billion, which is a -12 decline from September's amount of $76.3 billion.

CME Group disclosed these figures on Tuesday in its November 2022 monthly market statistics shared with Finance Magnates. According to the derivative marketplace operator, total volumes on EBS returned flat month-over-month (MoM) compared to October. However, on a year-over-year (YoY) basis, they shot up 7.5%.

Furthermore, CME Group noted that volumes on the EBS Market and the EBS Direct Spot remained flat last month. However, on a year-over-year basis, the EBS Market posted an 11% growth.

“CNH and NDFs on EBS Market saw strong YoY and MoM performance in November, up 39% and 45% year on year vs November 2021 respectively, while both saw a 7% increase vs October 2022,” Jeff Ward, the Global Head of EBS, explained.

Across the industry, trading venues reported differing outcomes for November. While the forex volume on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX) returned flat in November, Denmark-headquartered Saxo Bank reported a 7.8% increase in FX trading. On the contrary, FXSpotStream LLC, a provider of multibank FX aggregation services for spot FX trading, saw a 2.7% MoM decline in November.

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CME Group FX Futures and Options

Meanwhile, Paul Houston, the Global Head of FX at CME Group, noted that the group's FX futures and options volume “continued the strong year-to-date growth trend” in November. In addition, CME Group said its listed forex ADV rose 16% YoY in contract terms, with the average open interest in CME Group listed FX products also rising 14% year-to-date when compared to the same period in 2021.

The Group's performance in the FX futures and options category is similar to the derivative marketplace operator's October output when the volume of both derivative instruments shot up by 42% and 20% YoY, respectively, which is up from an all-time high posted in September.

Houston explained that the November performance was driven by “elevated volatility and increased buy-side customer adoption as exhibited by the growth in positions held by Asset Manager Large Open Interest Holders (LOIH).”

FX Link

Meanwhile, CME Group said it expanded the currency pairs on the FX Link to nine on November 21st with the launch of the USD/ZAR trading pair. The CME Group FX Link is a venue that enables a seamless connection between FX futures contracts and over-the-counter FX marketplaces.

Volume in this venue rose 40% YoY and 96% year-to-date when compared with November 2021, the Group noted.

‘Highest November Volume on Record’

Meanwhile, across all asset classes, CME Group said it posted its “highest November volume on record” last month as the ADV of total derivatives contracts increased by 1% to 23.5 million contracts. Last month, the Group posted its “highest-ever October ADV” which came in at 22.7 million contracts with an 11% increase.

Additionally, the Group’s equity index and forex ADV in November rose 23% and 16% to 6.9 million contracts and 928,000 contracts, respectively, among other asset classes.