CLS Group reports drop in FX volumes for July 2021
Foreign exchange settlement provider, CLS Group reported its operational metrics for July 2021, which dropped on a yearly basis, and in line with peers in the industry, executed trade volumes were lower compared with the figures of the prior month.
The average daily traded volume submitted to CLS was $1.66 trillion in July 2021, down -13 percent month-over-month from $1.90 trillion the prior month. Across a yearly timetable, the figure also reflected a drop of 5 percent relative to July 2020’s figures.
Following a period of wide-scale volatility and increased trading activity during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, average daily traded volumes in CLSSettlement, a payment-versus-payment settlement service, have now stabilized at lower volumes as compared to the same period last year.
CLS reported swaps volumes at $1.19 trillion in July 2021, down from $1.37 trillion in June 2021, a fall of 17 percent month-over-month. Further, the figure was lower by a factor of 4 percent year-over-year from $1.24 trillion a year ago.
In terms of CLS’ spot FX volume, the group has reported the figure at $389 billion in July 2021, down 9 percent from $428 billion in June. Additionally, the figure was lower 7.4 percent over a yearly basis from the $420 billion set in the previous year.
The weak performance was again pronounced across CLS forwards business, which yielded a figure of $81 billion last month, down 21 percent over a monthly basis from $102 billion in June, and also dropped by 3.6 percent year-over-year from $84 billion in July 2020.
CLS Group saw a rebound in volumes in the second quarter as investors flocked again to safe-haven assets amid violent market swings of fears of a coronavirus-fueled global recession.
“In July 2021, we saw average daily traded volumes of USD 1.74 trillion, an increase of 5% compared to July 2020. Overall volumes across all instruments increased year-on-year, with FX spot, FX forward and FX swap volumes up 8%, 4% and 4%, respectively. Volumes across some of the major currency pairs increased significantly – with USD/CAD, GBP/USD, AUD/USD and USD/CHF up by 16%, 24%, 15% and 12%, respectively – but EUR/USD decreased by 11% compared to the previous year,” said CLS’s Global Head of Product, Keith Tippell.
