Trading statistics issued yesterday by the UK small cap trading platform PLUS Markets show the volume of trades up 40% on the average for the second half of 2006. In terms of trade value, the market was up 34% on the average for the same period. The number of shares traded in the average transaction was down, in line with the rising value of the stocks listed on the market.
PLUS claims a comparison with the second half of last year only is more representative than a full year comparison because of the surge in membership which took place in July 2007. A full year comparison would indicate even higher increases.
In January, there were 69,175 bargains, worth a total of 372 million, representing 460 million shares changing hands on PLUS.
This represents the highest ever monthly total in bargain and value terms since PLUS opened its extended trading offering for business in December 2005. A strong January follows the completion of the first full year of the PLUS market model.
Over 850 small and mid-cap companies are now traded on the PLUS market, 674 of which are PLUS-traded with their listing or quotation on other London markets, and 187 are PLUS-quoted with their listing on the PLUS primary market (as at the end of January 2007). The combined market capitalisation of the PLUS market now exceeds 150 billion.
During 2006, over half a billion trades, worth a total of nearly 3 billion, representing over 5.75 billion shares, took place on PLUS rather than on traditional exchanges. Additionally, 60 new companies floated on the PLUS primary market in 2006, with five further new joiners in January.