FX activity remained substantially above year-earlier levels across several parts of the institutional currency market in July. CLS reported a 14.7% year-on-year increase in average daily traded volume, after Cboe and CME also recorded higher FX activity for the month.
CLS reported average daily traded volume of $2.658 trillion in July 2026, up from $ 2.317 trillion in July 2025. Cboe Global FX average daily volume rose 25.9% year-on-year to $61.071 billion, while CME’s FX average daily volume increased 9% to 811,000 contracts.
CLS Volumes Rise Despite Pullback from June
CLS's report shows that all three of its FX product categories increased from July 2025 onward.
FX forwards average daily volume rose 18% year-on-year to $236 billion, the fastest percentage increase among the three categories. FX swaps, still by far the largest component of CLS activity, rose 14.9% to $1.817 trillion. FX spot increased 12.7% to $605 billion.
The monthly comparison looks less optimistic. CLS’s total average daily traded volume fell 5.9%. All categories except FX spot decreased month-on-month.
Thus, July cooled from the previous month but remained significantly higher than the same month last year.
Cboe Shows a Similar Pattern
The Cboe Global FX business moved in the same direction. Its July ADV of $61.071 billion was nearly 26% higher than $48.514 billion in July 2025, and down approximately 5% from $64.267 billion in June 2026.
Cboe Global FX represents activity on an institutional FX trading venue, whereas CLS’s figures cover FX instructions submitted across spot, forwards and swaps within its settlement ecosystem.
Finance Magnates previously covered Cboe’s July report through a different angle, focusing on record Mini-SPX options activity and same-day trading’s share of SPX options volume.
For FX, the same monthly report showed strong year-on-year growth alongside a June-to-July pullback.
- CLS Group Settles Record $19.1 Trillion in FX Payment Instructions in a Day
- CLS’ FX ADV Drops -2% to $1.9trn in November, Rises 4% YoY
- CLS Group Sees 5.4% Monthly Decline in October's ADV
CME Shows Growth in Listed FX and EBS Spot
CME’s FX data are another dimension to the picture. Unlike CLS, which reports settlement-related instructions, and Cboe Global FX, which reflects activity on an institutional spot FX venue, CME’s headline FX figure is measured in listed futures and options contracts, which ADV increased 9% year-on-year to 811,000 contracts in July.
CME also reported a separate spot-market signal through EBS, where average daily notional value rose 25% to $70 billion. The product-level data point is in the same direction.
Japanese Yen futures ADV increased 39% to 184,000 contracts, while FX Link ADV rose 38% to 55,000 contracts, representing $5.2 billion in notional per leg.
July’s year-over-year increase was evident across several parts of the FX market infrastructure, from CLS settlement-related flows and institutional spot venues to listed derivatives.
The month-on-month pullback at CLS and Cboe keeps the conclusion narrower: July was stronger than 2025 across the reported datasets, but it is not a continuation of June’s higher levels.
