FX trading volumes surged on Trump victory trade: CLS

LONDON (Reuters) - Trading volumes in the dollar and a handful of major currencies surged to up to 10 times annual averages as the first signs of Donald Trump's victory in U.S. presidential elections emerged on Wednesday, data from settlement system CLS showed.

CLS, which settles more than 90 percent of all trades in the global currency market, also said volumes in the Mexican peso, which tend to be lower in Asian trading, also jumped to 63 times the average for the hour between 0200 and 0300 GMT.

"Significant spikes were registered across currency pairs ... with input volumes ten times normal levels for EUR/USD for that hour, followed by USD/JPY and GBP/USD (nine times and five times respectively)," CLS said in a statement.

"The largest increase in currency pair activity was the U.S. dollar traded against the Mexican peso (USD/MXN), 63 times normal levels for that hour."

A rise in trading volumes tends to be good news for the major banks and brokerages who are most heavily engaged in the $5 trillion a day market. A number of banks have reported results boosts from trading since the Brexit referendum in June.

(Reporting by Patrick Graham; editing by Nigel Stephenson)

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