The July month proved to be one of the least happening months in 2018 for the brokerage industry. Fx brokerages and exchange operator around the world are reporting lower volumes and lull in trading activities that is following on from June month. On Monday, NASDAQ and SAXO Bank reported their July month volume indicating the same trend.
The monthly trading volumes dipped further lower in July compared to the June month which was already sluggish. The trading volume for US Equity Options came in at 131 million contracts, which is 6 per cent or 8 million contract less than June’s volume. But on the yearly timetable, the volumes are approximately 13 per cent higher compared to July 2017.
The trading volume for European options came in at 6 million contracts in July compared to 6.6 million contracts in June 2018. Compared to July 2017, the trading volume is slightly up by 5 per cent. Looking at the cash equity segment, the trading volume for the US matched segment in July 2018 came in at 24.8 million of shares compared to 29.8 million shares in June 2018, which is 17 per cent higher than July 2018. On yearly timeframe, the volume is up by 13 per cent.
Following the trend, the European equity shares recorded total volume worth of $69 billion which is 6 per cent lower compared to the previous month but also 4 per cent lower compared to July 2017.
The Fixed Income and Commodity segment also recorded lower volumes compared to June month and the exchange recorded a total of $1.018 trillion in US Fixed Income segment, which is lower by 27 per cent year-on-year. The trading volumes for European fixed income market also fell by around 87 per cent to 1.6 million from 3 million in June 2018. But on yearly basis, the total number of contracts are up by 16 per cent.
SAXO Bank
The Copenhagen-based online multi-asset broker also reported somewhat troubled trading volume with overall trends going down sharply in the month of July. The total trading was reported at $316 billion versus $380 billion in June, which is 17 per cent lower. Within this, the FX trading volumes are at $226 billion, down by 19 per cent and also the Saxo’s lowest volume in 2018.
The equity segment recorded $60 billion in total volumes, Commodities at $26 billion, and Fixed Income products at $4 billion. By contrast, SAXO Bank has recorded average monthly trading volume of $527 billion in the first three months in 2018.
