Moscow Exchange Reports Stable FX Volumes for November 2020

FX trading sustained strong volumes at Moscow Exchange (MOEX) during November, as investors’ interest roared back from the depths of the Covid-19 volatility, according to a monthly report from Russia’s largest institutional trading venue.

Today, MOEX said average daily volumes for its FX market jumped three percent from a month earlier. This metric printed RUB 1.363 trillion ($18 billion) compared to RUB 1.357 trillion ($17.5 billion) in the prior month. Additionally, year-on-year, the ADV figure was up 22 percent from RUB 1.116 trillion in 2019, but virtually unchanged when weighed in dollar terms.

MOEX’s total FX volumes for November posted RUB 27.3 trillion ($362 billion), down 8.7 percent from the RUB 29.9 trillion ($377 billion), which exchanged hands in October 2020. This is compared with volumes from the same month a year earlier, though this figure was higher by 22 percent when weighed against RUB 22.3 trillion in November 2019.

November 2020’s turnover included spot trades of RUB 9.4 trillion ($124 billion). This surpassed the RUB 8.8 trillion ($111 billion) in the previous month, while swap trades and forwards totaled RUB 17.9 trillion ($237 billion).

Investors’ interest in OTC derivatives trading at Moscow Exchange (MOEX) continued its upward route in 2020 buoyed by a steady rise in volatility. This was coupled with a multi-year effort to bring new business to the platform.

Moscow Exchange Gives FX Algos a Try

According to a recent report, derivatives Market volumes increased by 93.5% to RUB 12.2 trillion relative to RUB 6.3 trillion in November 2019.

Russia’s largest bourse attributed the growth to its new products and upcoming regulatory changes, which helped increase the share of interest swaps in total market turnover to 40 percent. Moscow Exchange’s derivatives are offering lines up swaps, FX swaps, cross-currency swaps, FX forwards and options with maturities from 3 days to 5 years.

Most recently, the exchange unveiled a new FX algorithmic trading service in a major upgrade to its infrastructure, which comes amid Kremlin-backed efforts to make MOEX one of the world’s leading financial hubs.

By leveraging the breadth of MOEX’s liquidity network, emerging markets connections and FX expertise, these strategies could help users make their FX execution more efficient.