Following a very strong November, trading volumes at Forex ECN Hotspot FX cooled somewhat in December.
Hotspot FX, a unit of Bats Global Markets Inc (BATS:BATS), saw volumes decline 20% MoM during the last month of 2016, to average $24.4 billion ADV.
We view Hotspot FX’s December volume results as actually fairly strong. December is always slow given that there is little to no trading volume or liquidity in the markets during the last two weeks of the month as the nearly-global holiday season sets is.
Looking just at December 1-19, before volumes actually tailed off prior to holiday season, Hotspot FX averaged $30.2 billion per day, nearly equal to November.
Hotspot FX parent company Bats agreed in late 2016 to be acquired by CBOE Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) for $3.2 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2017.
