OMX Exchanges have announced that total share turnover in 2004 amounted to Euros 553 billion, against Euros 415 billion in 2003. Total turnover in derivatives amounted to 112,924,208 contracts, against 87,370,965 in 2003. However, the number of listed companies shrank to 509 at the end of December, compared to 542 a year ago.
February 2004 was the best month ever in derivatives trading for OMX marketplaces and the average daily volume amounted to 636,192 contracts per day, surpassing the January 2004 of 527,910 contracts.
In March the covered warrant trading for a single month reached an all time high of Euros 95.9 million at Helsinki Stock Exchange, on a daily average of Euros 4.2 million. In addition, it was an all time high in terms of number of trades per day, reaching 615 trades per day.
In April the daily average in share trading reached an all time high of Euros 1,177 million at Helsinki Stock Exchange.
The total figures include statistics from the Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius stock exchanges as well as Stockholm and Helsinki.
Copenhagen Stock Exchange – which is becoming part of the OMX group- also had a record year. Share trading reached new highs and broke previous records – DKK 593 billion, corresponding to a rise of 42 per cent compared with 2003.
Oslo Bors, which remains stand-offish in relation to OMX, saw equity market volumes up by 60 % from 2003. The Oslo Bors Benchmark Index continued the upward trend established in 2003, and rose a further 38.4 % in 2004 to close the year at 236.7 having reached an all-time high during the autumn. The market value of companies listed on Oslo Bors totalled NOK 996 billion at the close of the year, about the same size as the Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund.