ICE’s FX volumes slow sharply in April
Atlanta-headquartered futures exchange, Intercontinental Exchange, which also operates clearing houses and serves OTC markets, disclosed weak metrics across its FX and credit volumes for March, which averaged 24,000 contracts per day.
The figure dropped by more than a third month-over-month from the number of FX contracts in March 2023, which was reported at 37,000. Additionally, the Atlanta-headquartered futures exchange operator registered a similar decrease in FX volumes when compared to April 2022.
The overall financial products, which also include interest rates and equity indices, saw a bleaker performance, having dropped by 45 percent after revealing 1.9 million contracts per day compared to 3.6 million in March. In addition, the figure was down 9 percent over a yearly basis.
ICE operates several FX platforms, including the ICE Forex (FX) exchange, which offers trading in over 60 currency pairs, and the ICE Swap Trade platform, which enables traders to execute FX swaps electronically.
In addition to these platforms, ICE operates the NYSE Arca Options platform, which offers trading in currency options, as well as a suite of data and analytics services that provide market participants with real-time market data, historical price data, and analytics tools.
ICE’s FX business has seen strong growth in recent years, driven by a combination of increased demand for electronic trading and the company’s investment in new technologies and services.
Meanwhile, turnover from ICE’s flagship energy contracts also ticked down in April, according to data released today, as the volatility eased.
For the month ending April 2023, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange saw its energy volume average 3.27 million contracts per day, which represents a -6 percent change month-on-month. Across a yearly interval, the latest figures were higher by 9 percent from 3.0 million contracts per day in April 2022.
In terms of ICE’s total commodities volume, the figure was also mixed in its overall performance, amounting to an average of 3.88 million contracts per day in April 2023, which is down 2 percent vs. 3.95 million for the month prior. The group’s commodities activity was skewed to upside year-on-year when weighed against 3.45 million contracts reported back in April 2022.
Overall, ICE’s aggregated volumes were characterized by weak results across both the monthly and yearly intervals while volumes were broadly down in April across most business segments.
During the reported month, ICE’s April average daily volume (ADV) for futures and options business was reported at 5.85 million contracts per day, which corresponded to a fall of 23 percent month-over-month from 7.5 million per day in March 2023. In addition, this latest figure marks a 4 percent increase over April 2022 which came in at 5.62 million contracts per day.
