Institutional FX Volumes Slipped in July as Two Yen Intervention Days Carried the Month

Institutional FX trading volumes declined in July across the four largest venues, with average daily volume falling 1.2% to 7.8% from June depending on the platform. The month was heavily skewed by two outsized sessions on July 30-31, when Japan’s Ministry of Finance and the US Treasury conducted a coordinated yen intervention, the first since 2011. Excluding those days, Euronext FX’s annual growth fell sharply to just 1.2%, underscoring how much intervention-related trading inflated the headline figures. FXSpotStream posted the mildest monthly decline but remained far above year-ago levels, while Cboe FX and 360T also saw softer month-over-month activity. Separately, Japan’s Tokyo Financial Exchange reported strong growth in Click 365 futures, driven by the Turkish lira/yen carry trade and a sharp rise in dollar/yen volume. The article suggests FX market activity remains healthy year-over-year, but July’s volumes were unusually distorted by intervention flows and volatility in yen-related pairs.