Cboe’s October Volumes in Red as Markets in Wait-and See Mode

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets reported its trading statistics for October 2020, which were mostly flat in both its options and US equities volumes, as well as seeing a wavering performance across FX and futures business.
Demand for Cboe’s versatile products was muted as concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty surrounding US elections drove many investors onto the sidelines.

During October 2020, Cboe disclosed a total trading volume for options contracts at 207 million. Year-over-year, this was good for a rise of 21 percent from 170 million back in October 2019. However, this figure was down three percent from 217 million contracts in the previous month.
This corresponded to an average daily volume (ADV) of 9.41 million contracts per day, which was lower -7.6 percent from the month prior but was up by 27 percent year-on-year from 7.43 million contracts per day in the same month a year earlier.
Across its futures business, Cboe Global’s total volumes came in at 3.31 million contracts in October 2020, down by -9 percent over a yearly basis from 5.44 million contracts a year back.
The figure also marks a notable drop of ten percent month-on-month when compared with 4.11 million in September 2020. The exchange yielded an average daily volume (ADV) of 151,000 contracts per day, which was lower by one third from 196,000 contracts in the previous month.
Cboe volumes rise as retail trading surges
Cboe’s institutional  saw its average daily trading volumes amounting to $30.9 billion in October 2020, down three percent month-over-month from $31.9 billion in September 2020.
On a year-over-year basis, the ADV numbers released by Cboe FX, formerly Hotspot, illustrated weaker performance, falling by 2.3 percent when weighed against $31.6 billion a year earlier.‎
Looking at its total volumes,  inked a figure of $680 billion down from $702 billion in September 2020‎. This figure was even lower by -6.5 percent year-over-year when weighed against $728 billion in October 2019.
Cboe FX turnover  in March amid coronavirus-driven volatility that has shaken awake previously slumbering FX markets. The Chicago-based company has also benefited from a surge in retail investor participation in the markets, offsetting lower institutional demand for Cboe’s proprietary products, such as the VIX volatility index.