US based Forex Broker FXCM reports monthly metrics for September 2012. The rise in volatility seen in September after a slow summer month of August is reflected in a rise in volume.
However, with multi-year lows in volatility, September 2012 is weaker than September 2011. This phenomenon is industry wide.
Also Forex Crunch saw a rise in web traffic in September. For all the numbers from FXCM, here is the official press release:
Retail Trading Metrics
· Retail customer trading volume(1) of $304 billion in September 2012, 12% higher than August 2012 and 18% lower than September 2011. Volume from indirect sources was 46% of total retail volume(1) in the third quarter 2012. Retail customer trading volume(1) for the third quarter 2012 was $861 billion, 1% lower than the second quarter 2012, and 17% lower than the third quarter 2011.
· Average retail customer trading volume(1) per day of $15.2 billion in September 2012, 29% higher than August 2012 and 9% lower than September 2011.
· An average of 363,031 retail customer trades per day in September 2012, 13% higher than August 2012 and 25% lower than September 2011.
· Tradeable accounts(2) of 202,394(3) as of September 30, 2012, a decrease of 5,266, or 3% from August 2012, and an increase of 31,075,or 18%, from September 2011.
Institutional Trading Metrics
· Institutional customer trading volume(1) of $46 billion in September 2012, 8% lower than August 2012 and 64% lower than September 2011. Institutional customer trading volume(1) for the third quarter 2012 was $156 billion, 61% lower than the second quarter 2012 and 49% lower than the third quarter 2011.
· Average institutional trading volume(1) per day of $2.3 billion in September 2012, 6% higher than August 2012 and 61% lower than September 2011.
· An average of 5,688 institutional client trades per day in September 2012, 4% lower than August 2012 and 75% lower than September 2011.
“The market is experiencing multi-year lows in volatility. In our retail business, we are very pleased with the strong improvement in September volumes,” said Drew Niv, CEO of FXCM. “In our institutional business, our legacy business was impacted by the low volatility as banks are trading less and in smaller quantities. On the upside, we continue to make progress with our newer institutional initiatives including ECN, FastMatch and Lucid.”
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