NEW YORK - MarketAxess Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTX), the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for fixed-income securities, reported a record average daily volume (ADV) in total credit trading for February 2024, reaching $15.2 billion, a 5.1% increase from the previous year. The company's U.S. high-grade ADV also hit a record of $7.7 billion, marking a 14.6% rise.
Despite the overall growth in credit trading, U.S. high-yield ADV saw a significant decline, falling 37.1% to $1.4 billion. MarketAxess attributes this decrease in part to lower levels of credit spread volatility and a shift in focus by long-only client segments towards new issuance calendars.
Emerging markets ADV rose by 12.5% to $3.6 billion, driven by advances in both hard currency and local currency markets trading. Eurobonds and municipal bonds ADV increased by 9.1% and 8.0%, respectively, with municipal bonds achieving an estimated market share of 6.8%, up from 5.4% in the prior year. AxessIQ, the platform's workflow solution for wealth management, posted a 21.2% increase in ADV from the previous year.
The Open Trading share of total credit trading volume slightly decreased to 34%, down from 36% in the prior year. Total rates ADV, however, declined by 18.6% year-over-year to $19.1 billion, although it showed a 13.0% improvement from January 2024.
MarketAxess also reported a preliminary variable transaction fee per million (FPM) for total credit in February 2024 at approximately $152, which is lower than the $168 seen in the previous year and $156 in January 2024. This decline is mainly due to a change in product mix and shorter bond durations traded in U.S. high-grade. For total rates, the preliminary FPM was $4.30, compared to $4.13 in the prior year.
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