Trading November 11, 2024 2 min read

Monthly Securities Finance Market Review: October 2024

Equilend’s Head of Trading Solutions, Mike Norwood, shares his monthly market review for securities finance, highlighting October trends and some all-time highs seen across NGT. The following data has been measured and derived from Equilend NGT.

Trading by Sector for October: The Global Picture

October saw an uptick in volatility across the equity and fixed income markets. Job market strength and persistent core inflation, coupled with elevated political uncertainty in the run-up to the U.S. election, resulted in a drop in global indices for the month, while fixed income was also under pressure as yields rose. Securities lending markets saw heightened activity in this climate as Equilend’s NGT platform experienced a month of record volumes with 3,012,890 trades executed versus $3.03 trillion (+10% month over month and +12% year over year).

U.S. Federal Reserve rate policy continues to be a driver with relatively strong labor market statistics and core inflation remaining >3%, reducing the odds for future 50 bps rate cuts. U.S. treasury yields were up, as were European sovereign yields, as economic momentum slowed and the ECB cut rates by 25 bps. Global fixed income activity on NGT was up 24% from October 2023 as demand remains strong, with sovereigns and credit issues posting negative returns.

Global equity indices pulled back on mixed corporate earnings reports combined with the political climate and despite relatively strong economic figures. Volatility increased as the month progressed and drove month-over-month gains in securities lending trading activity in the U.S., Canada, EMEA and APAC regions. Canada was up 21% as a number of names went ex-div.

Looking forward, markets will need to digest the results of the U.S. election as well as the output from the subsequent Fed meeting this week.

Within global equities, NGT’s most in-demand sectors were: 

Stay tuned for the latest securities finance trends, trading analysis and commentary with Equilend’s Monthly Trading Commentary across 2024.

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Who We Are

Equilend is a global financial technology firm offering Trading, Post-Trade, Data & Analytics, RegTech and Platform Solutions for the securities finance industry. Equilend has offices in North America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific and is regulated in jurisdictions around the globe. The company is Great Place to Work Certified™ in the U.S., UK, Ireland and India and has been honored as European and Americas Data Provider of the Year and Regulatory Solution of the Year in the Securities Finance Times Industry Excellence Awards 2024. www.equilend.com