In the 2nd quarter of 2003, share trading advanced by leaps and bounds and reached a new high since the 2nd quarter of 2002. In the 2nd quarter, the value of trading amounted to DKK 94.6 billion, which is 18 per cent more than in both the 4th quarter of 2002 and the 1stquarter of 2003. But, if you compare the 1sthalf of 2003 with the 1st half of 2002, the turnover is 20 per cent lower in terms of market value.
However, if you look at the trading volume, a total of 412,965 share transactions were effected in the 2ndquarter, which is 10 per cent more than in the 2ndquarter of 2002, and the lower turnover may thus be attributable to a generally lower price level compared with the corresponding period in 2002. If you compare the number of shares traded in the 1st half of 2002 with the 1sthalf of 2003, the trading volume has only fallen by 0.4 per cent.
In addition to handsome price rises, the new segments, MidCap+and SmallCap+, have also seen an increase in turnover, both in terms of market value and trading volume. Since the introduction, MidCap+ has reached a turnover of a good DKK 9 billion, which is twice as much as in the same quarter last year. If you take the turnover in connection with the takeover bid on Danske Trælast into account the total turnover went up some 29 per cent in the 2nd quarter of 2003 compared with the 2nd quarter of 2002. In the 2nd quarter, the number of trades in the MidCap+ shares rose by 27 per cent compared with the 1st half of 2003, and the total trading volume came to 32,210 trades. However, the number of share trades fell slightly by 3.5 per cent compared with the 2ndquarter of 2002.
SmallCap+ doubled its turnover in terms of market value in the 2nd quarter of 2002 compared with the 1st quarter of 2003. However, compared with the 2nd quarter of 2002, turnover fell by 8 per cent. But the trading volume rose and the number of share trades in the 2nd quarter of 2003 was thus 48 per cent higher than in the year-ago quarter. The new segments have thus been warmly welcomed by the market both in terms of market value and turnover.
The three most active shares on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange during the first six months of 2003 were Novo Nordisk B, Danske Bank and A.P. Møller Mærsk B (calculated on the basis of the turnover in the previous shares D/S 1912 B and Svendborg B from January to mid-June). The shares reached turnovers of DKK 30, 27 and 18 billion in the first six month of the year, and they accounted for some 43 per cent of the total turnover.
This year's first new company was listed on 25 June 2003, when the Gudme Raaschou Vision shares were tradable at the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. This was the first listing to be realised since the listing of the Svendborg Sparekasse shares on 12 October 2001. In the first six months of the year, the companies raised DKK 553.5 million in connection with 20 issues on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange, which is at a lower level than in the corresponding period last year, when the companies raised more than DKK 5.5 billion.
The exchange members' market shares on the equity market did not change much during the first six months of the year. Danske Bank is still the largest member in terms of total turnover with a market share of 17.8 per cent, followed by Nordea Securities and Alfred Berg Bank with market shares of 11.7 and 10.8 per cent, respectively.
The Copenhagen Stock Exchange has 47 member firms, of which 18 are remote members. Merril Lynch, Lehman Brothers and Deutche Bank - the latter will start trading at the beginning of July - have all become members of the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in the course of the first six months of 2003.
In the first half of 2003, turnover in listed investment funds amounted to DKK 10.5 billion, which is somewhat lower than in the corresponding period last year, when the turnover totalled DKK 15 billion. From March to June 2003, the XtraMarked reached a turnover in excess of DKK 15 billion, which is twice as much as in the corresponding period last year.
Activities on the derivatives market increased during the 1st half of 2003, and a total of 296,483 futures contracts and 79,826 options contracts were traded. This is an increase of 43.4 per cent on the 1sthalf of 2002 for the futures and of 61.2 per cent for the options. In June, 37,847 futures contracts and 13,223 options contracts were traded, which is a rise of 14.6 and 24.5 per cent, respectively, on the same month last year.
In the 1sthalf of 2003, bond trading showed an upward trend, and turnover in terms of market value has risen by 46 per cent compared with the same period last year. In the first six months of the year, there was a turnover of DKK 3,537 billion, which corresponds to a nominal turnover of DKK 3,456 billion. June also saw bustling activity on the bond market, and turnover amounted to DKK 637.7 billion, or 29.2 per cent higher than in May 2003.
The most actively traded government bond during the 1sthalf of 2003 was 5% INK st.lån maturing in 2013, with a total turnover of just under DKK 257.7 billion. On the mortgage credit market RD's 5% 23 D s. maturing in 2035 was the most active bond series with a total turnover of DKK 174.5 billion.
