CLS's FX Trade Volume Report - February 2025

The analytics team at CLS Group has reviewed foreign exchange (FX) trading activity for February 2025, comparing the month against prior periods and analyzing daily and hourly trading patterns within the month. This resulted in the February 2025 FX Market Trading Report, which covers data from the FX spot, swap, and outright forward markets.

February Market Overview

Compared to the same period last year, overall FX trading volumes demonstrated a notable increase of 1.5%, clearly indicating an acceleration in market activity compared to February of the previous year. A deeper dive into the daily trading rhythm reveals that the average daily traded volume in February 2025 reached USD2.3 trillion, marking a substantial 3.6% climb from January.

However, this growth was not uniform across all trading instruments. FX swaps stood out as the top performer, registering an impressive 11.2% surge compared to the previous year and contributing a significant USD1.54 trillion to the total volume.

Concurrently, spot FX trading, the most direct form of currency exchange, also experienced a significant rebound, increasing by 21% year-on-year and adding USD556 billion to the overall volume. Outright forwards, another tool utilized for managing future currency risk, also saw healthy growth of 12.9%, contributing USD204 billion.

Granular Analysis

Nevertheless, single-month snapshots can sometimes be misleading. The CLS report broadens its perspective to a longer time horizon, and from its findings, an interesting contrast emerges. While spot trading volumes have exhibited a gradual downward trend over the long term (although this decline appears to have flattened in recent months), the demand for FX swaps has steadily increased. This long-term shift suggests an evolving market landscape where more sophisticated instruments for managing risk and liquidity are gaining prominence.

Delving into the intraday trading dynamics, the busiest trading day in February was the 3rd, with a remarkable USD820 billion in spot trades executed. This peak in activity was observed across major USD currency pairs, Euro currency pairs, Asia Pacific currency pairs, GBP currency pairs, Nordic currency pairs, and other currency pairs, indicating a globally synchronized surge in trading interest on that particular day.

Daily spot trading peaked on Monday, February 3rd

Subsequently, the CLS report adopts an even more granular approach, analyzing hourly data for spot trading activity in February 2025. This analysis reveals three distinct peaks in activity, mirroring the trading hours of the major financial centers in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The most active trading hour of the month occurred at 16:00 London time on Friday, February 28th, when an astounding USD146 billion in spot trades were executed.

Hourly spot trading peaked at 16:00 on February 28th

Conclusion

The February 2025 FX trading data portrays a vibrant market experiencing a significant resurgence in activity, particularly in FX swaps and spot trading. While long-term trends point to an evolving landscape, the recent surge indicates renewed dynamism across the board. The detailed analysis of daily and hourly trading patterns further illuminates the intricate workings of this global marketplace.

​CLS's Notes on the Data

The data in this report is based on trades submitted to the CLS settlement and aggregation services. The data is adjusted to equate to the same reporting convention used by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the semi-annual foreign exchange committee market reports. These surveys only report one side of any trade, and only the far leg of FX swap trades, to avoid double counting the total amount of trades.

In determining the time of submission, only matched trades and the earlier of the two submission times as the trade time proxy are included. CLS receives confirmation on the majority of trades from settlement members within 2 minutes of trade execution.