As market volatility subsides, the major U.S. securities exchanges are poised to report lower revenues from trading and clearing, says Moody’s Ratings.
With the major exchange operators — including CME Group, Inc., Cboe Global Markets, Inc., Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) and Nasdaq, Inc. — slated to start reporting third quarter results on Tuesday, it’s expected that trading-related revenues will decline on a quarter-over-quarter basis, the rating agency said.
In a new report, Moody’s said that as market volatility eased in the third quarter, trading volumes in most asset classes were down, compared with the second quarter, which saw elevated uncertainty amid global trade turmoil.
“Strong cash equity and equity options trading volumes were a bright spot during the quarter, staying at or near record levels,” the report noted.
Compared with the third quarter of 2024, exchange-traded volumes were mixed, Moody’s noted. While equities and equity options volumes were up significantly year over year, U.S. Treasury and bond volumes edged higher, but “higher profit margin exchange-traded interest rate and commodity derivatives were a weak spot,” it said.
Additionally, the share of equity trading being executed off-exchange, and in dark pools, reached a record level of more than 51%, Moody’s said, “indicating that these venues continue to take share from ‘lit’ exchanges.”
Overall, the exchanges’ aggregate net transaction and clearing revenues will be down about 10% from the second quarter, and “roughly flat” compared with the same quarter in 2024, the rating agency said.