Preliminary First-Quarter 2001 Results - Daily Share Volume Averages A Record 2.1 Billion - 22 Of 50 Largest Trading Sessions Ever Occurred In The First Quarter

Daily volume on The Nasdaq Stock Market® averaged a record 2.1 billion shares in the first quarter of this year, a 15.8 percent increase from 1.8 billion shares in the first quarter of 2000, and a 2.9 percent gain from 2.03 billion shares in the fourth quarter last year. Twenty-two of the 50 heaviest trading days ever on Nasdaq® occurred in the first quarter of 2001. Nasdaq experienced its most active single session in the first quarter, when 3.18 billion shares were traded on January 31, 2001.

The dollar volume of trading totaled $3.8 trillion in the first quarter, a 36.7 percent decrease from $6.02 trillion in the same period in 2000, and a 21.4 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2000. Daily dollar volume in the first quarter averaged $60.5 billion.

The Nasdaq Composite® Index ended the first quarter of this year 25.1 percent lower from the fourth quarter of 2000. Compared to the first quarter last year, the Composite fell 59.8 percent.

The market value of the nearly 4,700 companies listed on Nasdaq® stood at $2.7 trillion at the end of the first quarter, down 23.8 percent from year-end 2000, and 55.6 percent lower from the first quarter one year ago.