Whilst many FX firms and venues across all sectors of the industry are completing yet another month of low volumes, Russia’s Moscow Exchange (MOEX) is demonstrating that ruble liquidity is still in fierce demand, having today published its trading volume metrics for July 2014 which paint a different picture to those of many firms.
FX Market turnover actually increased to 20.2 trillion rubles from last month’s 17.4 trillion rubles, which in itself is remarkable considering current market conditions, however these figures trounce last year’s volumes for the same period, during which MOEX reported 14.7 trillion ruble trading volume for July 2013, which was a milestone month for many firms during a worldwide period of record volume figures.
The figures which serve to make up July’s FX volme are comprised of spot trades of 5.5 trillion rubles and swap trades of 14.7 trillion rubles. The FX market’s average daily turnover was 878 billion rubles which equates to $25.3 billion.
A record 311 billion of long-term swaps was traded in July. USD/RUB FX swaps with 1 week and 2 week maturities were the most popular instruments. The previous record of 278.5 billion rubles was set in January 2014.
Not only is demand for ruble liquidity in full swing but the much coveted Chinese yuan was a vast source of success at MOEX in July, with record CNY volumes standing at 665.63 million, or $3.8 billion, of yuan having been traded on July 31.
Many retail FX firms have seen the opportunity and begun to add CNY to their offerings.
Clearly with Russia’s Duma continuing to persue full FX regulation, and increased low latency access to Russian markets, as well as access from Russia to American and European markets via direct point to point connectivity provided by TMX Atrium, MOEX is going from strength to strength on the world stage.
The full volume details across all asset classes at Moscow Exchange can be viewed by clicking here.