1999: Amsterdam Exchanges Looks Back On A Good Year

Despite gloomy predictions, 1999 turned out to be a good year for Amsterdam Exchanges. Once again the AEX index broke record after record. In contrast to many expectations, this rally chiefly occurred in December, just before the changeover to the new millennium. The AEX index finally closed on 30 December at 671.41 points, its highest closing price ever. Following 1998's record, the value of turnover on Amsterdam Exchanges stock market reached a new high of EUR1.5 trillion; a rise of 25%. This was chiefly attributable to shares, which showed a 21% increase to EUR892 billion. Turnover on Amsterdam Exchanges options market did not reach the record levels of 1998, but despite this it was the second best year ever. Almost 50m options and futures contracts were traded in 1999. With 40m share options traded, Amsterdam Exchanges options market is now ranked third in Europe in terms of trading volume. Securities worth over EUR120 billion were admitted to listing on Amsterdam Exchanges stock market, a rise of 21% on 1998. In total EUR59 billion's worth of capital was raised on the market, up 26% compared with 1998. Of this, EUR29 billion was raised by new companies such as Libertel, UPC, KPN Qwest and Versatel, an increase of 69%. The flotation of Fox Kids Europe, the 2000th listing, was a particularly entertaining event. The total value of turnover in shares on Amsterdam Exchanges stock market amounted to more than EUR892 billion, representing a rise of 21% compared with 1998. In 1999 almost 50m options and futures contracts were traded on Amsterdam Exchanges options market, approximately 22% down on 1998, a record year. A total of 40m share options were traded, a fall of 25%. ABN AMRO was once again the most heavily traded share option at Amsterdam Exchanges options market and therefore one of the most popular share options in the world. In 1999 11,000 potato options were traded on Amsterdam Exchanges agricultural futures market, down 33% on 1998. It should be noted that potato options were only introduced in June 1998, and this fall is therefore extremely sharp. The number of potato futures contracts traded also fell, in this case by approximately 42%. However, these developments must be set against the fact that 1998 was an unusual year due to extremely heavy rainfall, while potato harvests were good in 1999. The number of live hog futures contracts traded fell slightly to 43,000, compared with 46,000 in 1998. A total of 13.9m transactions were settled by the securities clearing division, up 16% on 1998.