Earlier today, the Financial Futures Association of Japan (FFAJ) published the monthly report for retail OTC Forex and binary options trading for April 2015. Reflecting a trend we have witnessed across the industry last month, trading volumes in both types of trading instruments were lower when compared to levels seen in March 2015.
A total of 57 members reported their FX operating metrics for April 2015 to FFAJ, with their OTC retail Forex margin trading volumes amounting to a total of JPY 462.8 trillion (USD 3.86 trillion). This is 7.07% lower than in March 2015, when the result was not impressive either at JPY 498 trillion.
FFAJ commented that a trend to buy back Japanese Yen was seen during the period. Net Yen short positions at the end of the month declined compared to the previous month by repurchasing of Japanese yen short positions.
Let’s take a look at binary options trading now – it is always interesting, given the rigid regulations of this industry in Japan, including limits on the expiration times of binary options (short-term ones, like 60 sec options, are prohibited).
Unfortunately, the binary options trading picture was gloomier than the situation on the FX front.
- A total of 9 members of FFAJ reported their OTC retail binary options metrics for April 2015 – overall trading volumes with these instruments totaled JPY 41.63 billion, down massive 27% from the result of JPY 56.71 billion recorded in March 2015.
- The annual comparison was even more disappointing, as trading volumes with binary options fell 65%.
- Trading payments dropped by 26% month-on-month to JPY 18.65 billion.
- On the brighter side, the number of active trading accounts was slightly up from March levels at 14,515.
- Across pairs, the most popular underlying asset for binary options was USD/JPY, accounting for a trading volume of JPY 19.9 billion. Next up is the EUR/USD pair, generating a trading volume of JPY 8.02 billion last month.
To download the full binary options report for April 2015, click here.
To download the full OTC FX margin trading report for April 2015, click here.