Both FXall and Refinitiv Matching , two prominent foreign exchange platforms, have seen their trading volumes drop in October of 2020. To be exact, both exchanges saw a loss of more than 3%, as stated by the announcement the company made on Monday.
This, however, stands as to be expected, as industry peers are reporting a weak monthly turnover, as well. This weak month is primarily thanks to the massive volatility seen by the COVID-19 pandemic losing steam after it had caused record amounts of trade volumes.
Bad FX; Relatively Better Other Products
It should be noted, however, that Refinitiv’s other volumes fared much better. The firm, partly-owned by Thomson Reuters, recorded more favorable numbers in both Options and Swaps.
As for the turnover for October of 2020, including all forwards, cash, options, swaps, and non-deliverable forwards, it has been reported at a total of $413 billion. This is less than what was reported back in September of 2020, with the previous month recording $426 billion.
Year-on-Year, however, the exchange has seen a drop of 4%, going down from October 2019’s 432 billion in total.
March’s Massive Volumes Causing Fallout
Refinitiv stands as the former Financial and Risk business of none other than Thomson Reuters, and had reported its best metrics since March in September. March’s metrics, in particular, saw an average daily turnover of $540 billion, and is only beat by February of 2013’s volumes, more than seven years ago.
As for the specific details for October’s $413 billion figure, the FX spot constituted $79 billion of that. This stands as a drop of 6% when viewed month-over-month to September of 2020’s $84 billion. Year-on-year doesn’t bode well for October, either, failing just slightly in overtaking its yearly counterpart. October of 2019 was recorded at $81 billion.
An Ongoing Trend For October
Another key factor behind the drop in October of 2020’s metrics is the declining activity in a number of other transaction types, such as swaps, forwards, options, and non-deliverable forwards, or NDFs. These products saw the worst month since May of 2020, going down 2.5% from the previous month’s $342 billion to just $334 billion.
The numbers of Refinitiv runs in tandem with the ongoing observed trend for October of 2020’s figures for many other major trading platforms. The first quarter of this year had seen record-breaking numbers when it comes to volumes, but the subsequent fallout has caused lackluster activity in turn.
Refinitiv is a special case, however. With its position as one of the wholesale market’s major trading hubs, the financial data vendor offers the most comprehensive snapshot of the world’s overall trade activity.