As May advances, we see more companies report their volumes metrics for April 2016. Thus far, it is too early to speak of a coherent pattern of results, as some saw trading volumes rise while others registered declines. ASX, which earlier today published its monthly activity report for April 2016, saw a steep drop in futures & options trading volumes in monthly terms, following a rather solid March.
ASX registered total futures and options on futures volume of 10,253,734 contracts in April 2016, down 32.5% from the reading of 15,185,887 contracts registered in March 2016. The annual comparison was better, as the April 2016 reading is up 18% from the reading for April 2015.
Futures volumes amounted to 10,108,908 contracts in April 2016, down 32.6% from March 2016 and up 19% from April 2015.
Options on futures volumes amounted to 144,826 contracts last month, down 27.7% on a monthly basis and down 21% on an annual basis.
You can view the full report from ASX by clicking here.