Nasdaq Preliminary First-Quarter 2000 Results - 45 Of 50 Largest Trading Sessions In The Quarter Daily Dollar Volume Averages $95 Billion - Daily Share Volume Averages 1.8 Billion

Daily volume on The Nasdaq Stock Market® averaged a record 1.8 billion shares in the first quarter, an increase of 81.8 percent from 988.2 million shares in the first quarter of 1999, and a gain of 33.6 percent from the fourth quarter last year. Of the 50 heaviest trading days ever on Nasdaq, 45 occurred in the first quarter. On February 17, 2000, the 2 billion milestone was surpassed for the first time, with more than 2.008 billion shares changing hands. Nasdaq's heaviest ever trading day occurred in the first quarter, when 2.23 billion shares were traded on March 1, 2000. (That record was since broken when share volume exceeded 2.79 shares on April 4, 2000). There were a total of ten 2-billion-plus trading sessions on Nasdaq in the first quarter.

The dollar volume of trading totaled $5.97 trillion in the first quarter, its highest quarterly amount ever. It represents a 148.5 percent increase from $2.4 trillion in the same period in 1999, and a 58.1 percent rise over the fourth quarter of 1999. Average daily dollar volume in the first quarter was up 60.6 percent to $94.9 billion. This compares with $59.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 1999 and $39.4 in the same period one year ago.

The Nasdaq Composite® Index ended the first quarter of this year with an increase of 12.37 percent, closing at 4572.83. The Composite closed above the 5000 mark for the first time in the quarter, ending at 5046.86 on March 9, 2000.

The market value of the more than 4,800 companies listed on Nasdaq® stood at $6.8 trillion, up 18.7 percent from year-end 1999 and a gain of 120.11 percent from the first quarter one year ago. The Nasdaq Stock Market lists nearly 5,000 companies, has a larger dollar volume, and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Nasdaq is a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq NewsroomSM at www.nasdaqnews.com.