ICE FX Volumes Drop to Multi-Month Lows in February

Georgia-based , or ICE, on Tuesday disclosed downbeat metrics across its FX and credit volumes for a second consecutive month, which averaged 24,000 contracts per day.
The figure reflected a 17 percent drop month-over-month from 26,000 contracts in January 2019. In addition, the exchange operator registered a 25 percent decrease in volumes when compared to 32,000 contracts in February 2018.

The overall financial products, which also include interest rates and equity indices, also fell by 22 percent year-on-year after revealing 2.41 million contracts per day compared to 3.09 million in February 2018. Further, the figure is lower by nearly one percent over a monthly basis.
Turnover from  energy contracts dropped further to fresh lows in February, according to data released today, as the recent consolidation in prices curbed interest from retail and speculative investors.
For the month ending February 2019, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange saw its energy volume average 2.25 million contracts per day, which represents a drop of 7 percent month-on-month compared with 2.71 million contracts in. Across a yearly interval, the latest figures also fell 18 percent from 3.07 million contracts per day in January 2018.
Rivals Data Shows Flat Volumes
Overall, ICE’s aggregated volumes were characterized by weak results across both the monthly and yearly intervals, while volumes at  were broadly flat to lower in February across most business segments.
During the reported month, ICE’s February average daily volume (ADV) for futures and options business was reported at 5.45 million contracts per day, which corresponded to a flat change of one percent month-over-month from 5.45 million per day in January 2019. In addition, this latest figure marks a -19 decrease over the previous year which came at 6.7 million contracts per day.
In terms of ICE’s total commodities volume, the figure was weak in its overall performance, amounting to average 3.04 million contracts per day in February 2019, down three percent vs. 3.13 million the month prior. The group’s commodities activity was also lower by 16 percent year-on-year when weighed against 3.61 million contracts reported back in 2018.