Research firm Investment Trends’ 2014 report on the French FX and CFD market shows overall market shrinking after boost last year.
Australia based research firm Investment Trends has published an updated report on FX and CFD trading in France, which showed a marked decrease in overall FX and CFD trading in the country. A boost to trader numbers seen last year from the Financial Transaction Tax proved temporary, as French CFD trader numbers eased and FX numbers fell.
Leading brokers in France continued to be FXCM (NYSE:FXCM) and IG (LON:IGG), in both the FX and CFD categories (see chart below). FXCM and eToro, coming in a surprising fourth, made the most market share gains, while UK spreadbetting firm CMC Markets was cited by Investment Trends as having the greatest increase in client satisfaction following the launch of its Next Generation platform in France.
The other winner in France over the past year was MetaTrader. MetaTrader’s role in FX and CFD trading continues to grow with 35% of current FX traders and 17% of current CFD traders using MetaTrader as their main platform. 44% of current FX traders and 25% of current CFD traders use MetaTrader as a main or secondary platform. A further 12% of current FX traders and 12% of current CFD traders plan to start using MetaTrader in the next 12 months.
Numbers-wise, French CFD trading eased by 3% to 19,000 French traders who traded CFDs at least once in the 12 months, while French FX trading — after rising 32% a year earlier — contracted by 15% to 17,500 French traders who traded FX at least once in the 12 months.
Investment Trends still believes that the French CFD/FX market retains potential for growth, with low levels of existing adoption relative to other countries and a growing pool of ‘next wave’ traders.