Copenhagen Stock Exchange: Handsome Turnover In July Due To Several Record-Breaking Day-To-Day Price Fluctuations

Trading in shares and unit trust certificates amounted to DKK 36 billion in July 2002, which was higher than both the previous month and the corresponding month last year. The value of average daily trading amounted to DKK 1.6 billion, a 7 per cent rise on July 2001. The market was influenced by exceptionally wide price fluctuations with a record-breaking rise in KFX of 5 per cent on 25 July and the third sharpest fall of 5.4 per cent on 24 July.

Novo Nordisk was the most actively traded share in July with a turnover of DKK 6.5 billion. A contributory factor was that on 22 July the company announced that it would suspend the clinical development of its dual-acting insulin sensitiser ragaglitazar (NN622).

As a consequence of the realisation of Microsoft's offer to buy Navision, Navision was the second most actively traded company with a turnover of DKK 5.5 billion. TDC came in third with a turnover of DKK 3.9 billion.

The KFX shares reached a turnover of DKK 26.5 billion; thus they accounted for 73 per cent of the total turnover, down from usually 80 per cent. Navision contributed to the high trading volume outside the KFX portfolio, otherwise the percentage would have been approx. 80 per cent.

The KFX Index fell by 11.5 per cent compared with June and closed out July at 217.65, 30 per cent below the level of July last year. The KFX Index fell briefly below 200 on 24 July.

The best performance was in the KFMX Index, which comprises small and medium-sized companies - it recorded a fall of merely 2.6 per cent over the month and a fall of 13 per cent compared with the corresponding month last year.

Bond trading amounted to DKK 401.9 billion in market value, a rise of 34 per cent as against July 2001. The value of average daily trading totalled DKK 17.5 billion, the same as last month. The government bonds reached a turnover of DKK 165 billion and the mortgage bonds a turnover of DKK 188 billion.

At end-July, the average true yield was 5.27 per cent, a fall of 30 basis points compared with end-June, and a fall of 52 basis points compared with July last year.

At the end of July 2002, the volume of bonds in circulation totalled DKK 2,117 billion in market value, which was almost the same as last month as well as July 2001.

The average daily derivatives trading volume amounted to 1,979 contracts in July, which was the same as the previous months. In July, the trading volume totalled 45,308 contracts - 83 per cent KFX futures and 17 per cent options on single shares.