Investors traded over €800 billion in fixed-income securities on the TradeWeb Europe platform in the first half of the year, an increase of 115% from the same period last year and up 54% from the previous six months.
TradeWeb says the growth was driven by an upsurge in the number of customers and market makers on the network across Europe, helped by favourable market conditions and a growing acceptance of online fixed-income trading.
Lee Olesky, CEO, TradeWeb, says the overall increase in participation from both the buy-side and sell-side reflects the market's confidence in TradeWeb's online auction model: "TradeWeb Europe has achieved a break-even status in less than three years - a significant milestone in our global expansion."
Trading volume in euro sovereigns surpassed €509 billion for the first half of 2003, up 86% from the same period last year. Over $283 billion in US treasury securities was traded during the first half of 2003, a 272% increase over first half 2002. This was topped by volume of $67 billion for the month of June - Europe's highest month on record.
TradeWeb says globally, June volumes soared to $540 billion, with first half-year volumes of $2.5 trillion, up 32% from the same period last year.
Compared to the same time last year, trading in euro supra and agencies was up 150% to €6 billion, pfandbriefe saw an increase in volumes of 110% to €3.1 billion and US Commercial Paper trading was up 63%, despite declining issuance.
Trading volumes for US agencies increased 152% compared to H1 2002 and $1.4 trillion in TBA-MBS was traded in Europe – a 350% increase over the volume for the same period last year.
In addition, TradeWeb says trading in its euro commercial paper (ECP) system has reached €17.5 billion since its launch in February 2003, with a billion transactions in just the first week of trading.