LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Average daily volumes in the
global currency market fell 7 percent in May from a month
earlier, with traders citing uncertainty before Britain's vote
on whether to stay in the European Union as one of the main
factors for the drop.
Daily volumes have already been hurt in recent months by
regulatory changes that have crimped banks' risk-taking ability,
and by lower global trade flows. ID:nL8N18T49N
Data on Thursday from settlement company CLS showed that
volumes fell to $4.61 trillion a day in May, down from $4.96
trillion a day in April but the same as in May last year.
The number of instructions daily fell nearly 10 percent to
969,061 from 1,073,203 in April, CLS added.
Earlier in the month, data from the biggest currency trading
platforms run by Thomson Reuters TRI.TO and ICAP IAP.L
showed volumes continued to fall in May, extending the trend
seen in recent months.
Spot currency trading volume on TR platforms, the leader in
Commonwealth currencies like sterling GBP=D4 and the
Australian and New Zealand dollars AUD= NZD= , totalled $94
billion in May. That was down from $97 billion in April and
nearly 15 percent lower from $110 billion in May 2015.
On electronic platform EBS, where the bulk of the trades in
dollars, yen JPY= and euros EUR= are carried out, volumes
are down 21 percent in May from a year ago, owner ICAP IAP.L
said.