Forex trading volume per day 2016

Here's how much currency is traded every day.

If you've ever wondered just how much currency is traded on average each and every day, we have some good news. Thanks to HSBC, citing data from the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), we have the answer.

It's $5,100,000,000,000. That's trillion with a "t".

It's a mind-boggling figure, but actually smaller than the $5.4 trillion average seen three years earlier.

This chart from HSBC shows the evolution in average FX turnover levels, dating back to 1998. The data comes from the BIS' triennial survey of the FX market and is based on volumes traded in April of this year.

HSBC notes that the decline in turnover was a result of a sharp drop in FX spot volumes, with the average daily volume falling to $1.65 trillion this year, a 19% decrease from three years earlier, which stood at over $2 trillion per day.

According to the BIS data, the fall in spot volumes was partially offset by an increase in FX swap volumes.

HSBC also cautions that recent strength in the US dollar "means that a non-USD FX transaction today appears smaller than the same transaction would have done in the 2013 survey".

"This valuation effect has been quite significant - when volumes are measured in constant exchange rate terms, then total FX volume actually showed a 3.5% increase from 2013 to 2016," it says.

In other words, if not for the US dollar being stronger, FX volumes actually increased from three years earlier.

Here's a couple of charts from HSBC showing the most actively traded currencies worldwide in April. As the world's reserve currency, the US dollar clearly dominates, accounting for nearly 88% of total turnover.

And here's the same chart, excluding the US dollar. The share of FX turnover of the Chinese renminbi has clearly grown, coming at the expense of the euro, yen and Australian dollar.

"The dominant position of the USD is, at least partly, a result of the USD being a hub currency", says HSBC.

"Whilst it is possible to quote a price in any currency pair, in the interbank market (which is the ultimate generator of FX liquidity) most currencies are only tradable against a small number of other currencies - most commonly the USD.

"This means that when customers deal with a bank in a non-USD cross-rate, the transaction is likely to be split into two USD-based legs by the market-making bank," it adds.

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Forex Market Size: A Traders Advantage.

by Gregory McLeod.

The Forex market is the largest and most liquid market in the world. The US dollar makes up the majority of Forex transactions The Forex market’s deep liquidity is advantageous to traders by allowing them to enter and exit the market instantaneously.

According to the Bank for International Settlements, foreign-exchange trading increased to an average of $5.3 trillion a day. To put this into perspective, this averages out to be $220 billion per hour. T he foreign exchange market is largely made up of institutional investors, corporations, governments, banks, as well as currency speculators. Roughly 90% of this volume is generated by currency speculators capitalizing on intraday price movements.

Unlike the stock and futures market that are housed in central physical exchanges, the Foreign exchange market is an over-the-counter market, decentralized market completely housed electronically. Banks from Hong Kong to Zurich and from London to New York. Though most investors are familiar with the stock market, they are unaware how small in volume it is in relation to the Forex market.

In the diagram above, it can be easily seen how the FX market’s $5.3 trillion per day in trading volume dwarfs the equities and futures markets. In fact, it would take thirty days of trading on the New York stock exchange to equal one day of Forex trading!

Traders from other markets are attracted to the Forex because of this extremely high levels of liquidity. Liquidity is important as it allows traders to get in and out of a position at with ease 24 hours a day 5 ½ days a week. It allows large trading volumes to enter and exit the market without the large fluctuations in price that would happen in less liquid market. This means that if you will never get in a position because of the lack of a buyer. This liquidity can vary from one trading session to another and one currency pair to another as well.

As the most traded currency, the US dollar makes up 85% of Forex trading volume. At nearly 40% of trading volume, the euro is ahead of the third place Japanese yen that takes almost 20%. With volume concentrated mainly in the US Dollar, Euro and Yen, Forex traders can focus their attention on just a handful of major pairs. In addition, the greater liquidity found in the Forex market is conducive to long, well-defined trends that respond well to technical analysis and charting methods.

In sum, the Forex market size and depth make it the ideal trading market. This liquidity makes it easy for traders to sell and buy currencies. This is why traders from all different asset classes are turning to the Forex market.

---Written by Gregory McLeod Trading Instructor.

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Daily FX volumes rise to $4.84 trillion in Jan - CLS.

LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Daily trading on the global market in currencies bounced by almost $400 billion a day in January, driven by a surge in market volatility due to worries over China, oil prices and global growth, data showed on Wednesday.

Compared to January 2015, when a record-breaking gain for the Swiss franc prompted a surge in trading, data from settlement company CLS showed volumes were still down by around 9 percent at $4.84 trillion a day.

The recovery on the month, however, offers a sliver of optimistic news for major banks and financial firms struggling to reform trading businesses on which margins have turned ever tighter after generating billions in profit in the past decade.

The CLS numbers showed trading volumes recovering from $4.47 trillion in December and a multi-year low of $4.41 trillion in November. That compares to peaks of almost $6 trillion a day hit in September 2014. (Writing by Patrick Graham, editing by Anirban Nag)

All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.

FXCM Trading Volumes Soar In November 2016.

FXCM forex broker says the company gains the best forex trading retails sales as well as institutional fx trading in Nov 2016, ForexSQ experts says the FXCM broker retail customer trading volume in November is 353 billion dollar, The broker institutional customer trading volume is 28 billion dollar.

Retail Customer Trading Metrics.

Retail customer trading volume of $353 billion in November 2016, 16% higher than October 2016 and 18% higher than November 2015. Average retail customer trading volume per day of $16.1 billion in November 2016, 11% higher than October 2016 and 13% higher than November 2015. An average of 613,233 retail client trades per day in November 2016, 14% higher than October 2016 and 26% higher than November 2015. Active accounts of 179,432 as of November 30, 2016, an increase of 1,483, or 1%, from October 31, 2016, and a decrease of 473, or 0.3%, from November 30, 2015. Tradeable accounts of 155,928 as of November 30, 2016, an increase of 942, or 1%, from October 31, 2016, and a decrease of 5,581, or 3%, from November 30, 2015.

Institutional Customer Trading Metrics.

Institutional customer trading volume of $28 billion in November 2016, 17% higher than October 2016 and 32% lower than November 2015. Average institutional trading volume per day of $1.3 billion in November 2016, 18% higher than October 2016 and 35% lower than November 2015. An average of 35,712 institutional client trades per day in November 2016, 5% lower than October 2016 and 12% higher than November 2015. An average of 29,469 institutional client trades per day in December 2015, 7% lower than November 2015 and 56% higher than December 2014.

In addition, FXCM broker has updated its expectation regarding the sale of non-core assets and the repayment of its loan with Leucadia National Corporation. While the Company remains positive about the ongoing sale processes, they may not be completed within the first quarter of 2016 as previously indicated. FXCM forex broker is now targeting the repayment of its debt to Leucadia by the second quarter of 2016.