EquiLend executed 2.3 million trades on its NGT trading platform during July 2022 against US$2.2 trillion. This represents a 2 per cent year-over-year (YoY) increase in trade volume.
According to Mike Norwood, EquiLend director and global trading product owner, volumes decreased 11 per cent compared to June 2022.
As global equity markets recovered slightly after a difficult first half of the year and volatility tempered, Norwood saw activity down across the board.
Due to the summer holidays in the northern hemisphere, July and August tend to be relatively slow.
However, because of the 75 basis points rate hike by the US Federal Reserve System — coupled with the forward guidance that eventually hikes will ease, historic levels of inflation, and continued conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the remainder of the year is likely to be unpredictable at best and should result in robust securities lending activity.
The noteworthy trends of July 2022 saw non-GC trading via NGT continue to hit new highs of 23 per cent of total trades, representing 25,000 trades daily.
Activity in the health sector continued to slow, with Information Technology becoming the third most traded sector behind Industrials and Consumer Discretionary.
