Fastmatch’s Trading Volumes Decline in March as Markets Look for Direction

Fastmatch’s trading volumes consolidated slightly in March 2018, declining for the second month in a row this year. The FX trading venue of Euronext is reporting a total of $413.0 billion that has changed hands during March, representing a slight decline off of February 2018.

The total monthly trading volume metric was lower on a month-over-month basis, albeit by approximately by 2.2 percent relative to February 2018 and by 6.6 percent when compared to March of last year.

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In particular, the average daily trading volumes amounted to $18.7 billion in March 2018, a figure which is lower by 11.3 percent month-over-month and by 19.2 percent year-over-year. While March featured healthy trading volumes overall, the month was devoid of any particular event that helped spark volumes.

2018 saw its fair share of trading volatility, though markets have been somewhat more settled since the start of the year. This has coincided with diminishing volumes for the past two months, after peaking at $457.0 billion in January 2018.

Looking ahead, broader industry volumes will likely continue to be dictated by isolated pockets. This was the case in 2017, where sustained volumes increases never materialized and each month saw wavering levels of activity.