Amsterdam Exchanges Doubles The Volume Of Share Trading In February

It was unprecedentedly busy at Beursplein 5 in February. While premium turnover on options and futures soared by 72% against February 1999, the volume of trading on the share market actually more than doubled. The stock exchange systems accommodated a biggest-ever turnover of ? 135 billion in the month of February. One important factor encouraging the surge of activity by investors appears to be the steep price rises, especially in the IT sector. On the Euro.NM market segment intended for fast-growing, innovative companies, the volume of trading was multiplied by six during that period. Altogether, over 2.3 million securities transactions were settled in February, 130% more than in the same period in 1999. On the options market, the "open interest" - the total number of open options contracts - grew by 12% to over 11.5 million. The open interest is an important yardstick for the liquidity of trading in options and futures. Prices maintained their upward trend in February, especially in the IT sector. At the end of February, the leading AEX index was 23.9% up against February 1999 and 8.5% higher than at the end of January 2000. The Amsterdam Information Technology Sector index (AISX) climbed by 164% in the space of a year. Of this rise, 23 percentage points were gained in February. Similar price jumps are occurring at European level. For instance, the leading FTSE EuroStarsindex rose by 52% over that period, while the FTSE Eurotop Information Technology Sector index (EISC) soared by all of 209%.