The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has reported increased co-location revenues in its latest results presentation, suggesting greater levels of high-frequency trading (HFT) in its market.
In its Q1 results statement, SGX revealed a 25% increase in connectivity revenue, from US$5.74 million to US$7.18 million. The exchange primarily attributed this to its co-location services, which it introduced a year ago.
Co-location involves clients placing their trading systems as close to the exchange’s matching engine as possible to minimise latency. It is popular among high-frequency traders, which typically make profits by arbitraging tiny price differences that may only exist for microseconds at a time.
The exchange also registered a rise in derivatives trading, with average daily traded volume up 15% from the previous quarter. Following the approval of SGX to offer FTSE China A50 futures in the US, those contracts registered nearly triple average daily volumes, reaching 3,247 contracts from 11,034 over the period. Daily average traded volume of Japanese Nikkei 225 options also increased, doubling from 6,265 contracts to 13,080 contracts. The exchange plans to add MSCI Indonesia contracts by the end of June.
"Our efforts to grow our non-securities businesses continue to bear fruit," said SGX CEO Magnus Böcker. "SGX is on track to be the first Asian exchange to launch hubs in Chicago and London to conveniently and cost-effectively connect global investors to SGX markets. These hubs will be available along with exchange-hosted pre-trade risk controls for the derivatives market."
Securities daily average traded value on SGX was up 30% versus the previous quarter, rising from US$0.89 billion to US$1.36 billion.