Paris Bourse Monthly Activity Hits all-time High

The Europe's first month was marked by a record trading volume on the Paris Bourse with a total of 4.66 million trades. Transaction value for January also reached a historic high, with a daily average of EUR2.62 billion, a 23.4% increase compared to December 1998. The figure is 26.52% higher than the daily average for the 12 months in 1998 and up 65.86% compared to the same period last year. Trading activity for the month on Le Nouveau Marché rose by 172% compared to January 1998 but was down 14.8% from December. The total trade value of EUR117.82 million for the month was up 64.64% compared to last year as 55,500 trades changed hands, but 24.68% less than the previous month. The addition of three companies to Le Nouveau Marché in January raised the number of listings to 84 as total market capitalisation reached EUR 4.32 billion. The Paris derivatives markets saw 20,401,055 contracts being traded over the course of January. Trading on the MONEP involved 19,314,160 equity and index derivative contracts for a total trade value of EUR1.76 billion. Open interest on the MONEP rose 157% from December, at 18,902,572 lots. A total of 1,086,895 fixed interest contracts and commodity futures were traded on the MATIF during the month. Total trading of French equities in January amounted to EUR52.38 billion in the 20 business days, a 57.77% increase over January 1998. The number of daily trades was 232,996 on average, compared to 193,156, the previous month and 164,762 for the whole of 1998. Capitalisation of French equities on the Premier Marché and the Second Marché stood at EUR887 billion as of January 29.