Accounts combined with an increased interest in share trading meant that both the turnover and number of trades increased strongly across the board. Disregarding the records in the automatic trading via the trading system, the number of average daily trades in the month of August exceeded 10,000 for the fist time since the transition to the Saxess trading system in June 1999 as the daily average totalled 10,422 share trades in August.
The total value of share trading came to just under DKK 46.6 billion, which is the third largest trading volume since June 1999. The value of average daily trading was DKK 2.2 billion - also a record.
The great increase in turnover indicates an increased investment interest in shares, and the high number of trades points to an increased interest in share trading among private investors. In the aggregate, the number of trades in the first eight months of the year was 8 per cent higher compared with the same period a year earlier, whereas the turnover is 12 per cent lower.
The sharp increase in the total turnover may primarily be ascribed to a keen interest in the KFX shares in connection with the accounts season in August.
The MidCap+ and SmallCap+ shares were behind the highest percentage increases in turnover compared with July at 58 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively. For the first time, more than 1,000 trades per day were made in the MidCap+ segment as the daily average totalled 1,047 share trades.
The most actively traded share was A.P. Møller - Mærsk B at just over DKK 10.5 billion, which is three times higher than in the month of July. Danske Bank and Novo Nordisk B followed with turnovers of DKK 6.1 billion and DKK 4.9 billion, respectively.
Since the end of July the indices have seen substantial increases, and the KFX Index grew by a near 13 per cent. Danish shareholders have generally become DKK 78.8 billion richer in August, and since the year's lowest market value recorded at the end of February 2003, they have become as much as DKK 191.5 billion richer.
The increased interest in shares also rubbed off on the stock exchange listed investment funds, where the turnover rose by 30 per cent to DKK 2.5 billion compared with July. However, the total turnover of the first eight months of the year is 20 per cent lower than the same period the year before. The primarily bond-based investment funds on the XtraMarked fell from DKK 2.0 billion in July to DKK 1.5 billion.
On the derivatives market in August a total of 68,313 contracts were traded of which 56,530 were index-linked futures contracts. The number of traded option contracts grew by 20 per cent on July, whereas the volume of traded futures contracts fell by 13 per cent. The total number of contracts traded fell 8 per cent compared with the month of July. On 26 August, derivatives on A.P. Møller - Mærsk B were introduced, and since the introduction a total of 575 contracts have been traded.
In August, bond trading declined, which can be attributed to increasing interest rates and resulting lower refinancing activity. The value of bond trading in July amounted to DKK 432 billion, which is 15 per cent lower than in July and 32 per cent lower than the same month in 2002. In August, the Exchange introduced a new classification of the bond market, which has also been integrated into the monthly statistics.
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