Cboe FX reports $896 billion in monthly volumes, down 11% MoM
Cboe’s institutional spot FX platform reported its trading volumes for the month ending October 2022, which saw a notable drop after hitting its third-highest month ever in September.
During October 2022, Cboe FX disclosed a total trading volume of $896 billion, down -11 percent on a month-over-month basis from $1.008 trillion in June 2022. This figure was however higher by 25 percent year-over-year when weighed against $717 billion in October 2021.
In addition, the exchange’s institutional FX trading venue saw its average daily trading volume amounting to $42.6 billion in October 2022, down 7 percent month-over-month from $45.8 billion in June 2022.
On a year-over-year basis, the ADV numbers released by Cboe FX, formerly Hotspot, illustrated stronger performance, rising by 24 percent when weighed against $34.1 billion a year earlier.
Cboe FX turnover crossed the $1 trillion milestone earlier this year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The recent pullback, however, raises serious questions about how deep a possible pullback in volumes will be, though it should not cause panic.
If the history tells anything at all, the increase in FX volatility, reflected by sharp swings, makes traders tend to pare back the size of their positions in order to avoid the sizeable risks on the downside.
Cboe strengthens FX business
According to conclusions made by one of the BIS reports, there was a marked increase in the amount of FX turnover during the lead-up to the financial crisis, aided by low volatility and a high appetite for risk. These factors reversed a few months later when traders became increasingly risk-averse, and market volatility spiked higher.
Interestingly, the current pattern mimics what happened during the crisis period, which initially saw an increased FX turnover that was attributed to a ‘hot potato’ effect, where traders were keen to pass on any risk as quickly as possible. This was seen recently when investors liquidated nearly everything for cash, including the traditional safe havens like gold and yen, only driving up the US dollar.
Liquidity management has been a key focus at Cboe FX over the past few years, coupled with adding extensive analytics capabilities. The company operates an electronic foreign exchange trading venue that permits certain institutions to enter into spot transactions with their preferred counterparties to meet their specific trading needs.
Dubbed ‘Cboe FX Point,’ the direct execution model provides institutional investors with a flexible range of options, including the ability to create custom, relationship-based connections.
