Oslo Stock Exchange Share Trading Reaches The 1,000,000 Mark

The Oslo Stock Exchange´s new trading system has now handled one million share transactions. The one-millionth transaction took place today. The broker for the purchase was Garde, whilst Christiania Markets acted for the seller. The level of activity in the system continues to grow steadily as records are broken. The new trading system came into operation on 5 February 1999, and it has since processed a daily average of 4,971 share transactions. Shares worth NOK 1.7 billion have changed hands daily. The equivalent figures for the first 15 trading days of November are 6,457 transactions daily, with a value of NOK 2.2 billion. A record for the number of transactions in one day was reached on 18 November, when 9,172 transactions were processed. 1999 has already comfortably exceeded all previous annual records for both the number and value of transactions. If the level of activity seen so far this year continues to the end of the year, the value of turnover in shares and primary capital certificates is likely to reach NOK 420 billion this year, which is NOK 80 billion greater than was seen in the record year of 1997. Internet trading is one of the reasons for this strong growth. The new trading system allows investment firms to create systems that open up the electronic order book for investors. This makes it easier for a far greater number of investors to access the stock market, and has also led to a significant reduction in the cost of being an active investor. The new trading system has been an unqualified success. The system has achieved a 99.98% level of availability, which is an achievement other stock exchanges envy, and its functionality and trading methodology satisfy even the most demanding investors´ requirements. It is our intention that the Oslo Stock Exchange should operate as liquid a market as possible. The electronic order book is seen to be extremely efficient at concentrating liquidity, and offers fair trading with a smaller spread between bid and offer prices. More than 9 out of every 10 trades are automatically matched by the electronic order book.