FT Interactive Data expands forex coverage

FT Interactive Data, a provider of securities prices, has expanded its coverage of spot and forward foreign exchange markets and reduced update times from every hour to every half hour.

Massachusetts-based FT Interactive Data claimed 169 spot rates set against the six ‘majors’ – US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc – and 35 forward rates set against the US dollar, the euro and the British pound were added to its system during the weekend. The rates are fed in from GTIS Corporation, an affiliate of FT Interactive Data, which is majority owned by Pearson, owner of the Financial Times.

The GTIS data supplements intra-day rates feeds on 103 currencies against three majors from WM Reuters and market coverage from Barclays Capital. The Reuters data, which is updated hourly, is subject to 20 minute delays. GTIS data is updated in real-time. The 35 forward prices go out to one year, but the firm said this will be expanded “over time” to five years.

FT Interactive Data claims GTIS collects in excess of 500,000 updates per day from more than 70 of the world’s leading market-maker banks and forex trading centres in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific. The firm said it intends to further integrate GTIS derivatives, fixed income, money market and precious metals content with its current system.