ASX Rates Highlights Q2 – April to June 2025
OTC, Futures, Benchmarks and Collateral insights Q2 2025
ASX provide key trading observations during the period April to June 2025 and the latest rate derivative market updates. View the key updates and the full chart pack below.
Trading volumes increased in Q2 2025 as a result of macroeconomic volatility. Strong growth occurred in 90 Day Bank Bill Futures and 3 year Bond Futures contracts. The RBA - as widely anticipated by the market - cut interest rates again in May 2025, albeit surprised the market by keeping rates on hold at the July meeting.
The June 2025 Bond Roll was the second Roll Period where the Bond Futures (3, 5, 10, and 20 year) contracts outright market was delinked from the roll calendar spread. Significant improvements to top of book liquidity and depth were again recorded in the outright market during the period.
Outright market top of book liquidity improvements throughout the roll period:
The improved liquidity and tradability of the outright market during the roll period contributed to substantial improvements in market activity during the roll period.
In May 2025, the RBA cut the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85%, marking the second rate cut of the year.
We saw the spread between the 1-month and 6-month tenors widening to 16+ basis points over the second quarter of 2025.
Average daily eligible volumes increased to 2.12 billion per day in Q2, while the tenor formation using the transaction-based layer slightly decreased to an average of 3.08 tenors. The volume of 6-month tenor transactions continued to dominate at 40% of the total eligible volume.
SOFIA Overnight Repo Reference rate
ASX has commenced the implementation of live SOFIA Overnight Repo Reference rate with the VWAP-based calculation methodologies following the SOFIA Working Group decision in May 2025. Further detail and additional data can be found on ASX Benchmarks.
| Product | Contracts taken to cash settlement (Jun'25) |
| 90 Day (IR) | 202,160 |
| 3 Year (YT) | 41,290 |
| 5 Year (VT) | 429 |
| 10 Year (XT) | 40,480 |
| 20 Year (LT) | 49 |
| NZ 90-Day (BB) | 47,703 |
ASX OTC Clearing volumes for Q2 2025 were A$2.49 trillion notional value, up 2% on PCP. Open Interest as at the end of March 2025, was A$5.042 trillion, up 39% on June 2024.
During the quarter, banks and clients appeared to take advantage of the lower total cost of clearing available at ASX with an average 50% reduction in Initial Margin requirements, achieved by customers through usage of ASX's fully automated cross-product margin optimisation service. Learn more
ASX Collateral average balance for Q2 2025 increased to $32 billion (12% increase from previous quarter) primarily driven by RBAs OMO activity on the triparty platform. RBA OMO activity decreased from $25.5 billion to $23.5 billion from Q1 to Q2, yet OMO activity via ASX Collateral triparty increased from $9.8 billion to $11.6 billion in the same timeframe. More than a third of the collateral on the triparty platform are non-government and non-semi-government securities. With the majority of each line of collateral being valued at less than $5 million highlighting the increased usage of underutilised securities.
The full chart pack includes ASX Interest Rate Derivatives volume by session, roll volume, volume vs open interest, calendar year overview, OTC activity, ASX Collateral balances and Austraclear's outstanding bond amounts.
On Friday 18 July 2025, ASX re-established the minimum price increment 'tick' value to 0.5 bp (0.005%) from the current 1 bp (0.01%) on the 3 Year Treasury Bond (YT) Future, after extensive consultation with the market. Learn more
Dr John Feeney from Martialis Consulting has written a paper about pricing and uses of the serial 90-day bank bill futures. The Australian Dollar 90-day bank bill futures (IR) listed on ASX are considered to be the backbone for transparent pricing of short-dated interest rate derivatives. This paper explains how to improve pricing and revaluation accuracy. Download the paper
We’re pleased to announce ASX has partnered with Fujitsu and the Tokyo Stock Exchange to explore the introduction of CONNEQTOR RFQ platform to the Australian market. This collaboration marks a significant step in supporting ETF market innovation and enhancing trading efficiency. Learn more
During the recent FIA Forum Sydney 2025 changes in the futures and options market was discussed including global tariffs, 24/7 trading, new products and tomorrow's talent. Phuong Trinh - Parse Partners moderated a panel with Fiona Tramontana - ASX; Clement Cordier - HSBC, Catherine Ford - LSEG; Gerben van Veldhuijsen - Optiver; and Nicholas Scarf - Plus500AU. Read the insights
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