The latest turnover figures from Icap, CME and CLS show that while spot volumes (assuming CME’s futures are predominantly used as a proxy for spot) are still growing, the rate of expansion is slowing. The average daily volume on EBS in July was $206 billion, a 9% increase over July 2007. On the CME, total FX turnover rose 2% on July 2007 to a daily average of 640,347 contracts, or $90.2 billion in nominal terms. Growth was stronger in its option contracts, which expanded by 7% over July 2007 to a daily average of $3 billion. This was largely driven by a greater move towards electronic trading, which expanded by 42%.
Meanwhile, July was almost a record month for CLS. A total of 542,361 sides settled, just below March’s record of 547,000, and the average daily value was $4.01 trillion.