SGX FX volume hits US$107.8 billion in February 2022
The Singapore Exchange (SGX), the country’s paramount exchange operator, has released its monthly volumes across its FX, derivatives and commodities segments for February 2022.
Total FX futures volume on SGX stood at US$107.8 billion, with month-end open interest up 56 percent YoY at US$13.9 billion.
The exchange reports the trading volumes for its USD/CNH Futures contract at 823,524 contracts, up 15 percent from a year earlier. In addition, open interest hit a record US$12.4 billion during February 2022. The figures reflect a strong rebound from a month earlier as there was reduced volatility in the renminbi ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays.
The CNH or offshore RMB is increasingly being adopted as a safe-haven currency amid heightened risk aversion, and the SGX contract is the world’s most traded CNH futures.
Meanwhile, derivatives daily average volume on SGX rose in February to about 1.06 million contracts, indicating a rise of 5 percent over a yearly basis and hitting the highest since March 2020. The monthly turnover in equity index futures volume also climbed 5 percent month-over-month to 13.4 million contracts, with steady activity in FTSE China A50 Index Futures amid signs that the mainland’s economic growth could slow in the near term.
SGX is now Asia’s largest FX derivatives exchange
As the crisis over Ukraine exacerbated volatility across global markets, SGX’s commodity derivatives traded volume rose 36 percent YoY in February to 2.5 million contracts. Securities daily average value (ADV) also jumped 36 percent month-on-month to S$1.6 billion, the highest since March 2021. Total securities market turnover value climbed 16 percent to S$29.6 billion.
SGX-listed companies continued to tap the equity capital markets with new listings to its mainboard in February, which raised S$244.8 million in February, up 31 percent YoY.
Earlier in January, SGX completed the takeover of FX trading platform MaxxTrader to expand its reach in the foreign exchange space. Together with its wholly-owned subsidiary BidFX, SGX is now Asia’s largest FX derivatives exchange. The deal aligns with Singapore’s plans to build an integrated platform enabling global access to FX OTC and futures participants.
SGX acquired MaxxTrader from FlexTrade Systems, a multi-asset execution and order management systems provider, for $125 million. Headquartered in Singapore, the platform provides FX pricing and risk solutions for sell-side institutions including banks and broker-dealers, as well as a multi-dealer platform for hedge funds.
