CLS settled an average of $5 trillion a day in March, up 8.3% on February. CLS counts both sides of the trade when calculating settlement values. An 8.8% monthly increase in average daily swap values accounted for the bulk of the rise in settlement values in March, reflecting easing credit fears after the European Central Bank’s second Long-Term Refinancing Operation in February, with overall values for spot and forwards roughly flat.
Source: CLS |
Year on year, average daily values in swaps have grown 20%, while spot and forwards have grown 6% and 15% respectively.
Currency pairs showed mixed performance, with USDJPY and EURNOK showing the largest gains in spot settlement values, followed by EURSEK and USDHKD.
Average daily volumes of all spot, forwards and swaps trades submitted for settlement were all marginally higher than in the previous month.