The Forex world appears to have continued its up-and-down 2015 year in April, at least based on data from Hotspot FX.
The Forex ECN, newly acquired by BATS Global Markets, posted a 10% drop in April trading volumes to $28.4 billion ADV, down from $31.6 billion in March. Early-reporter Hotspot is usually a good proxy of overall trading volumes in both the institutional and retail FX sectors.
However the raw monthly data does not tell the whole story.
The first half of April was ultra-quiet, with volumes actually down more than 20% from March levels to $25.1 billion ADV, as the usually slow Easter season combined with low volatility to slow down trading.
But things picked up nicely in the second half of the month, as volatility led by the EURUSD bouncing down to 1.05 and then back up to above 1.12 brought currency traders back to their screens. The last two days of April each saw volumes above $40 billion at Hotspot, indicating a very robust market.
We will learn more as other institutional and retail forex platforms report their April results in the coming days. Stay tuned to LeapRate…