FFAJ Reports Steady Growth in FX Trading Volumes for August 2017

The Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ) today released its monthly FX margin trading statistics report for August 2017. August was a steady month for retail FX brokers in Japan. Data from 54 licensed retail FX brokers indicates the end of the decline in Forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term volumes which has been the trend this year. The rise in volume could be due to extreme 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 due to geopolitical tensions.

Total FX over the counter (OTC) trading volume stood at $3.24 billion (¥357.6 trillion) in August 2017, an increase of 16.75 percent from $2.77 billion (¥306.3 trillion) in July 2017. The USD/JPY and cross yen volume increased by 14.14 percent to $2.94 billion (¥324.6 trillion) in August 2017 from $2.57 billion (¥284.4 trillion) in July 2017.

Total open positions in the month of August increased by almost 3 percent, coming in at $550 million (¥60.89 billion), in which traders added new long positions worth $20 million (¥2.3 billion) to $350 million (¥38.41 billion) and decreased their short positions by almost $60 million ( ¥6.1 billion) to $200 million (¥22.47 billion). In USD/JPY and cross yen open positions, net long positions decreased by $20 million (¥ 2 billion). Total short and long positions stood at $330 million (¥36.09 billion) and $170 million (¥19.16 billion) respectively.

At the end of the month, the yen closed at 110.49 against the dollar with the highest and lowest being 110.93 and 108.33 respectively. Previously, only January and May saw growth in volumes this year. The data for August is a positive relief for Japan's FX brokers who were struggling with low volumes.

Earlier this month the FFAJ released its Q1 FX trading volume data, in which a sharp decline in trading volume was reported.