Platforms · Software · Providers · Markets
Retail volumes change composition
Preliminary FM Intelligence figures put metals, with gold the largest contributor, at about 69% of retail CFD turnover in the third quarter of 2026. The share was 78% in the previous quarter. Currency pairs rose to 16% from 10%. The estimate uses brokers that had reported by Thursday, and places overall volume about 8% above the second quarter.
That increase would not fully recover the earlier decline. Monthly retail volume dropped 9.3% to $30.4 trillion in the second quarter; applying the estimated rebound leaves activity about 2% below the first quarter, according to a Finance Magnates calculation. The total and category shares remain preliminary because the sample does not yet include every broker.
Yen activity coincides with FX growth
Metals remained more than four times the size of the next category, FX. The pattern has persisted: FM Intelligence data showed metals CFDs above 60% of global broker volume in the first half of 2025, with gold accounting for nearly 80% of metals activity. Combining the latest shares with the volume estimate suggests metals fell about 4% against the second quarter, while FX gained roughly 70%. That comparison assumes the early sample is comparable with the brokers used for the prior-quarter shares.
Currency pairs rose from a low base. Across a broader broker group tracked by FM Intelligence, FX represented 13.7% of monthly volume in the second quarter, versus 26.8% a year earlier; the current preliminary sample puts that quarter at 10%. Japan's Ministry of Finance bought yen on 30 July.
The US Treasury joined the yen purchase on 31 July, the first time Japan and the US had intervened together since 2011. In September, the Bank of Japan raised rates two days after the Federal Reserve, which had made its first increase since 2023. Cboe FX recorded a 45.3% monthly increase in USD/JPY volume, the biggest rise among its five largest pairs. Annualised USD/JPY volatility, calculated from daily closing prices, was 9.0% in the third quarter, compared with 5.4% in the second. The data were reported by Finance Magnates.
| Measure | Reported figures |
|---|---|
| Metals share of retail CFD volume | About 69% in the third quarter of 2026; 78% in the second quarter |
| Currency-pair share | 16% in the third quarter; 10% in the second quarter |
| Total retail volume | About 8% higher quarter on quarter; still about 2% below the first quarter |
| Estimated category change from the second quarter | Metals about 4% lower; FX roughly 70% higher, subject to sample comparability |
What this changes for operators
For platform and risk teams, the shift makes instrument-level monitoring more useful than relying on aggregate CFD volume alone. Do exposure reports distinguish gold and other metals from currency pairs, and can limits and alerts show whether a change in activity is concentrated in USD/JPY? The source does not provide broker-level risk or execution data, so the operational impact for an individual firm remains unclear.
Reporting teams should also keep volume and revenue measures separate. EC Markets recorded about $0.06 trillion of currency-pair trading from $2.1 trillion in average monthly second-quarter volume. XTB said commodity CFDs generated 70.8% of its third-quarter gross result on financial instruments, up from 60.5% in the second quarter; that is a revenue measure, not a volume share. FM Intelligence's preliminary analysis also compares mobile and desktop activity, with a larger shift there than in the instrument mix. Does that split align with internal platform reporting, and will the final report change the sample enough to alter current comparisons? FM Intelligence plans to issue it after the remaining brokers submit data.
The mobile and desktop comparison is another point for reporting teams to check against internal activity views. The account gives no figures for that split. Are device-level activity, instrument classifications and volume totals being compared across the same broker sample? The final report may change the comparison when the remaining submissions are included.
