Futures trading on the Moscow Exchange shows record volumes

Trading in futures on the Moscow Exchange shows record volumes, exceeding the average values ​​for the last year by two or three times. First of all, they touched on currency futures. At the same time, brokers almost do not earn in this segment due to low commissions. Experts warn about the risks of the derivatives market against the backdrop of high volatility, however, according to their forecasts, the level of turnover in derivatives trading will remain until the end of the year.

In recent days, the Moscow Exchange has recorded record volumes of trading in futures and options. The daily trading volume on August 15 exceeded 700 billion rubles, which was the maximum value since February 2022. A day earlier, on August 14, investors traded for 636 billion rubles, and a day later – for 514 billion rubles. At the same time, the average daily trading volume on the derivatives market in the previous months of this year did not exceed 200–300 billion rubles.

The surge in activity in the derivatives market this week was due to the increase in the volatility of the foreign exchange market, according to Tsifra Broker. At the beginning of the week, the exchange rate of the dollar rose above 101 rubles/$. However, after the decision of the Central Bank to raise the key rate (immediately by 3.5 percentage points, to 12%), the ruble significantly strengthened its position (see “Kommersant” dated August 16). Supported the Russian currency and speculation on the topic of additional actions of the authorities to stabilize the situation on the market (see “Kommersant” dated August 17). As a result, the volume of trading in foreign exchange contracts doubled.

At the same time, the growth in turnover on the futures market should not noticeably affect the commission income of brokers. According to the reports of the largest brokerage companies for the first half of the year, none of the largest brokers earned more than 1 billion rubles in this segment. BCS (0.7 billion rubles) and IT Invest (0.9 billion rubles) had the highest. However, both companies did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Moreover, most of the almost two dozen large brokers have reduced their income in this segment. The President of FG “Finam” Vladislav Kochetkov explained that in the derivatives market “large algorithmic desks play an important role.” They, according to the top manager, create large turnovers, but most often use fixed or reduced commissions. The lack of a steady increase in commissions is explained by the fact that the ultimate beneficiary under such contracts is not a broker, but an exchange, says Andrey Barkhota, an independent financial analyst. The commission income of the Moscow Exchange from the derivatives market in 2022 was higher than from the share market and amounted to RUB 3.7 billion. Nevertheless, according to the head of the risk management department at Tsifra Broker Mikhail Apanasenko, the service is also profitable for brokers.

Treasuries of corporate clients and qualified investors occupy the largest share in the segment of exchange-traded futures contracts, says Mr. Barkhota.

At the same time, the share of individuals in the trading volume on the derivatives market in July amounted to slightly more than 68%. Attracting a mass retail investor, according to Andrei Barkhota, is difficult by definition – not the largest portfolio size and a more complex mechanism of work. According to the expert, portfolios on the derivatives market start from 5 million rubles. For contracts over 100 million rubles. the amount of acquisition costs may be 1.0% of the contract value. However, Mr. Barkhota does not expect a flow of mass investors into this segment.

The main risks of the derivatives market include high volatility, the ability to trade without collateral and an instant response to events, which at the same time are advantages over other types of trading on the market, Tsifra broker noted. At the same time, in a stationary state of the market, the cost of hedging contracts can reduce the potential return on investment, and in the event of increased volatility, the losses from an incorrectly configured option or futures may exceed the benefit from the investment idea itself, Mr. Barhota notes.

Ksenia Kulikova