Foreign exchange volumes surged across major institutional platforms in July, significantly outpacing year-ago levels despite cooling from June’s pace. CLS reported average daily traded volume of $2.658 trillion, up 14.7% year-over-year from July 2025’s $2.317 trillion. Cboe Global FX saw an even sharper 25.9% annual increase to $61.071 billion, while CME’s FX average daily volume climbed 9% to 811,000 contracts.
The strongest growth came from FX forwards on CLS, which jumped 18% annually to $236 billion, though FX swaps remain the dominant category at $1.817 trillion. CME’s EBS spot platform delivered $70 billion in average daily notional value, up 25% year-over-year, with Japanese Yen futures showing particular strength at 39% growth.
However, all three venues experienced sequential declines from June 2026, with CLS dropping 5.9% month-over-month and Cboe falling approximately 5%, suggesting summer seasonality may be tempering activity.
**
FXnCO Insight
** Sustained double-digit annual volume growth across settlement, institutional spot, and listed derivatives platforms confirms robust FX market participation, making July pullbacks likely tactical entry opportunities rather than trend reversals.
Source: Finance Magnates