Monday, August 6, 2012

Volume Around the World

One of the results of the worldwide economic downturn has been not just that stock returns have been middling, but trading volumes have been down around the world. With the European crisis scaring off so many investors, the total value of shares traded on worldwide exchanges in the first half of 2012 was down 14 percent from the year earlier.

The biggest drop in traded share value was here in the Americas, where overall volume dropped by 20 percent over the year earlier. The total number of trades fell by 25 percent. Traded share value in Europe dropped by 15 percent, and the number of trades dropped by 9 percent.

The one area showing growth in volume is the Middle East and Africa, and it's surprisingly robust growth.  Total trading value in those regions is up 52 percent over last year, and the number of trades is up by a stunning 35 percent.

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