GMO Click did $694 billion of spot FX volume in March, down 17% from record February volumes.
FX volumes continued to be strong during March in Japan, as the global risk-on trade combined with local “Abe-nomics” to keep retail traders interested in the currency markets. However volumes were down somewhat from February. Japan’s largest retail FX broker, GMO Click Securities, has reported that its March FX volumes came in at ¥65.2 trillion (or $694 billion) — an amazing month by any measure, but still down 17% from February’s ¥78.6 trillion (or $845 billion), an all-time record for a retail FX firm. By contrast, FXCM’s best month ever was $513 billion, in October 2011.
Retail FX trading in Japan has made a huge comeback the past four 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 March, with the USDJPY trading in a 90-93 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.