iSAM Securities Blog | Institutional FX News, Insights, Trends & Opportunities

IS Risk Analytics' View From the Desk - May 2021

Written by Jeff Wilkins | 8/Jun/2021

May was a below average, but respectable, month in terms of profitability as a handful of strong days drove overall figures for the month. The rallies in gold and EURUSD were the primary sources of revenue for most brokers. Volumes also ended up subpar as a result of low volatility range bound markets in the latter part of the month.

*Average Daily Volume represents the daily volume from ISRA customers for each day of the month divided by the average daily volume for the month. Each day is represented as a percent of the average.

** Average Daily B Book PnL represents the daily B Book PnL from ISRA customers for each day of the month divided by the average daily B Book PnL for the month. Each day is represented as a percent of the average.

Source: IS Risk Analytics Database. Past Performance is not necessarily indicative of future results

ASIA

The eyes of the world will be on Tokyo this summer as Japan prepares to host the Olympic summer games in July. Organizers are insisting that the games will go ahead as planned in spite of mid-May surge in coronavirus cases and a low vaccination rate in the country. Recent polling shows over 70% of the Japanese population is in favor of postposing or cancelling the games.

EUROPE

The outlook for Europe’s economies is improving as vaccination efforts have increasingly taken hold. The European Commission now expects 2021 growth at 4.2%, an increase from the 3.7% projection given in February. In additions to vaccines, the continent’s economy should soon see the benefits of the 750 billion euro recovery fund whose funds are set to reach national governments by July.

AMERICAS

US President Joe Biden has made a number of concessions to Republicans in hopes of passing his infrastructure plan. The proposal, which started at $2.3 trillion dollars, has been cut by over $1 trillion in recent weeks. Even after the changes, the legislation does not appear to have garnered much, if any, support from the Republicans and does not appear likely to pass with the bipartisan support the President is seeking.