A 37 percent increase in volumes in the first quarter of 2009 over the same period last year was reported by dbFX.com, the online retail foreign exchange (FX) trading platform of Deutsche Bank, as retail traders continue to favor FX over equities and bonds.

Launched in May 2006, dbFX.com is available in multiple languages, has 34 currency pairs and is accessible in more than 82 countries around the world.

From Dbfx.com:

The platform's figures also show a continued move away from trading the carry trade in Q1 2009 over Q4 2008, once one of the most favoured strategies employed by traders, with trading on the Pound / Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar / US Dollar and USD / Japanese Yen down 81 per cent, 74 per cent and 28 per cent respectively.

Instead, investors have looked to the mainstream 'big three' currency pairs as a means of generating returns, with the Euro / US Dollar, Pound / US Dollar and US Dollar / Yen the most traded pairs on the platform and making up over 75 per cent of total trades. Of these, the Euro / US Dollar claimed just over half of all trades on the platform, with the US Dollar / Yen claiming only 5 per cent of volume in the first quarter.

Betsy Waters, Global Director of dbFX.com, said: "From the trading perspective, the carry trade has been a stable of FX traders' portfolios for some time and has brought many new entrants to the market. However, traders have begun moving to alternative strategies such as valuation trades - where investors seek out seemingly undervalued currencies - and such behaviour reflects a growing understanding and knowledge of the FX space, and the strategies that dominate it, by traders.

"There's no doubting the growth of retail FX as an asset class over the past 12 months or so, and it's encouraging to see this growth and development continue unabated. FX is proven to be uncorrelated to equity and bond markets, and this message is continuing to reach the retail investor in the current climate."

dbFX.com brings the benefits of Deutsche Bank's award winning expertise in foreign exchange to clients.