GMO Click did $845 billion of spot FX volume in February, an all-time record for a retail FX brokerage firm.
It has been just a few weeks since we reported that GMO Click Securities reported record volumes for any month in its history, with ¥68 trillion (or $756 billion) transacted by its clients during January.
Well, amazingly, it seems as if February was even better (see chart below). Despite being a shorter month, February volumes totaled ¥78.6 trillion at GMO Click, or $845 billion, by our calculation an all-time record for a retail FX firm. By contrast, FXCM’s best month ever was $513 billion, in October 2011.
GMO Click is the largest retail FX brokerage firm in Japan.
Retail FX trading in Japan has made a huge comeback the past three months, since the December election of a new government in Japan led by Shinzo Abe — a government which is seemingly determined to fix Japan’s economic woes and promote growth by (among other things) lowering the value of the Yen versus the world’s leading currencies. The Yen was actually relatively stable during February, with the USDJPY trading in a 91-94 range. However the perception that the Yen’s value will continue to be manipulated by the government, causing wild bounces every now and then, has brought Japanese retail traders back to the table.
For more on the global Forex industry see the LeapRate-Dow Jones Forex Industry Report.