CLS Sees Mixed FX Volumes in January, Spot FX Grows

The first month of 2019 has provided mixed trading results for foreign exchange (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) trading providers, and the same can be said for CLS Group, a leading provider of risk mitigation and settlement services for FX dealers and institutions, which published the trading activity submitted to the company in January this Wednesday.

During the month of January, the total average daily traded volume submitted to CLS was $1.784 trillion. When compared to the previous month, which reported an average daily traded volume of $1.556 trillion, this is up by 14.65 percent.

However, although January’s volume is up on a month-on-month basis, the same can’t be said when comparing the period on an annual basis. In January of 2018, an average daily traded volume of $1.805 trillion was recorded. When comparing the two results, the figure achieved in the first month of 2019 is 1.16 percent less.

The total volume is based on the trading sections - swap FX, spot FX, and FX forward contracts. Taking a look at these sections individually, the average daily traded volume for swap FX was $1.253 trillion in January, the largest of the three trading sections.

Spot FX Trading Volumes Rise in January on CLS

When measuring this against the previous month, the volume achieved in January is 19.11 percent higher. On a year-on-year comparison, January’s figure is also up by 5.38 percent.

Spot FX is the second largest segment in terms of trading volume out of the three, ahead of FX forward contracts, and recorded an average daily traded volume of $445 billion in the first month of 2019.

Comparing this to December of 2018, which had an average traded volume of $417 billion, this is up by 6.71 percent. However, the results don’t hold up as well on a yearly comparison, as January of 2018 had an average traded volume of $513 billion per day, which is 13 percent higher.

Finishing off with FX forward contracts, the smallest of the three segments, the average daily traded volume is $86 billion. This represents a fall of 1.15 percent and 16.5 percent on a monthly and yearly comparison respectively.