ICE Stock Falls 0.85% Despite $560M Volume Surge Ranks 129th in Market Activity

On August 25, 2025, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) closed with a 0.85% decline, despite a 37.49% surge in daily trading volume to $0.56 billion, ranking it 129th in market activity. The stock’s performance coincided with the release of ICE Mortgage Technology’s July 2025 “First Look” report, which highlighted mixed trends in U.S. mortgage performance.

The report revealed the national delinquency rate dropped to 3.27% in July, a 9-basis-point annual improvement and 58 bps below 2019 levels. However, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans remained a key concern, accounting for 52% of serious delinquencies and showing a 15-basis-point annual increase. While overall serious delinquencies stabilized, the annual rise of 30,000 cases marked the smallest increase since November 2024, attributed to fading impacts of wildfires and hurricanes. Foreclosure inventory rose 10% YoY, with starts and sales rising for eight and five consecutive months, respectively, though the national foreclosure rate remains 35% below pre-pandemic norms.

Prepayment activity edged up to 0.67%, reflecting modest rate improvements. Regional disparities were evident, with Louisiana and Mississippi reporting the highest non-current loan percentages (7.55%), while California and Washington showed the lowest (2.16% and 1.99%, respectively). The data underscores ICE’s role in monitoring housing market resilience amid macroeconomic uncertainty.

The backtested strategy of purchasing the top 500 stocks by daily volume and holding for one day from 2022 to 2025 yielded a 31.52% total return over 365 days, with a 1-day average return of 0.98%. The strategy’s Sharpe ratio of 0.79 indicated strong risk-adjusted returns, though volatility was evident, with daily returns ranging from -4.47% to 4.95%.