Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), an international network of exchanges and clearing houses, has just released its latest aggregated volumes for the month ending April 2017, having snapped a three month uptrend in its futures and options business.
During April 2017, ICE’s futures and options business, as reflected by its average daily volume (ADV), was reported at 5.8 million per day, a decline of -11.9 percent month-over-month from 6.3 million contracts per day in March 2017. This latest figure stymied what had effectively been the exchange’s third consecutive monthly growth this year, having peaked in March.
April 2017 did not feature a groundswell of market activity, devoid of any market drivers, and in some cases trading schedules were mitigated due to the Easter and Good Friday holidays. As such, April’s 2017 volumes were lower across most business segments on a month-over-month basis. However, over a yearly timetable April 2017’s ADV was noticeably higher by a factor of 26.0 percent year-over-year from 4.6 million per day in April 2016.
Commodities Volumes Growth On the Rise
ICE was however able pare its recent declines across its commodities volume, reporting an upbeat ADV of 3.3 million contracts per day in April 2017, up 7.9 percent month-over-month from 3.1 million contracts per day in March 2017. During April 2017, commodities ADV stood at 7.2 percent year-over-year compared with 3.1 million contracts per day during April 2016.
Looking at the group’s equity indices ADV, April 2017 saw a reading of just 390,000 contracts per day, suggesting last month’s strong performance was merely an aberration related to US Fed positioning. More specifically, this corresponded to a decline of -45.2 percent month-over-month from 712,000 contracts per day in March 2017.
FX ADV Collapses
By extension, ICE’s foreign exchange and credit volumes during April 2017 also dipped to an ADV of 28,000 contracts per day – its lowest reading of the year – declining by a margin of -39.1 percent month-over-month from 46,000 in March 2017. These volumes did register a growth of 7.7 percent year-over-year from 26,000 contracts per day in April 2016.
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