Buying and selling currencies facilitates global trade and man has traded in foreign currencies since ancient times. Today most FX deals are executed through various eFX channels.
The foreign exchange market is the market for trading currencies. Buying, selling and exchanging currencies are activities on the FX market that assists global trade. It is largest market in the world with an average daily turnover of approximately USD 4 trillion. The market is open 24/5,5, i.e., trading is going on from 22.00 GMT on Sunday in Sydney until 22.00 GMT on Friday in New York.
The FX market is a fast growing market, it has more than doubled since 2004. The algorithmic and automated FX trading which Aphelion provides with the Aphelion eFX solution, has increased from 2 percent to 50 percent during the same time period. FX trading via online portals such as Aphelion’s Trader Portal has lowered transaction costs, increased market liquidity and made it easier for retail investors to trade in the foreign exchange market.
The global ranking and percentage turnover varies but since 2010 the situation in general has been:
As London and New York are such central and important hubs for the business of Foreign Exchange, Aphelion has placed two data center’s as well as an office in each of these two major cities.
In 2013 the US dollar was involved in 87 percent of the transactions. There are three heavy pairs in FX trading.
These are approximations based on statistics from 2013.
Currency | Daily share |
---|---|
USD | 87.0% |
EUR | 33.4% |
JPY | 23.0% |
GBP | 11.8% |
AUD | 8.6% |
CHF | 5.2% |
CAD | 4.6% |
MXN | 2.5% |
CNY | 2.2% |
NZD | 2.0% |
SEK | 1.8% |
RUB | 1.6% |
BANK | DAILY FLOW |
---|---|
Citi (US) | 16.11% |
Deutsche Bank (Germany) | 14.54% |
Barclays Investment Bank (UK) | 8.11% |
JPMorgan (US) | 7.65% |
UBS AG (Switzerland) | 7.30% |
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (US) | 6.22% |
HSBC (UK) | 5.40% |
BNP Paribas (France) | 3.65% |
Goldman Sachs (US) | 3.40% |
Royal Bank of Scotland (UK) | 3.38% |
The largest international banks in the top-tier interbank market accounted for 39 percent of all transactions in 2010. This figure has been declining rapidly with the introduction of e-channels, such as Aphelion eFX from Aphelion. Today, approximately 70 percent of the daily total volume is transacted via e-channels such as Aphelion eFX.
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