The turnover on German stock exchange group Deutsche Börse’s cash equities market fell to EUR 90 billion in January 2009 from EUR 307.8 billion in January 2008 – a year-on-year decline of 70%. Deutsche Börse’s cash equities market comprises the Xetra electronic trading platform and the floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
The exchange blamed the turnover slump on the sharp decline in share prices, retail and institutional investors’ reluctance to trade in uncertain market conditions, and the exceptionally high turnover in January 2008.
Of the EUR 90 billion cash market turnover in January 2009, EUR 84.2 billion was traded on Xetra – a 71% decrease from the EUR 292.7 billion traded on the system the previous January. Turnover on the floor of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange fell to EUR 5.8 billion in January 2009 from EUR 15 billion in January 2008.
The turnover across all stock exchanges in Germany in January 2009 was EUR 105.5 billion, a 68% drop from EUR 330.4 billion the previous January. This includes EUR 93.1 billion in equities, warrants and exchange-traded funds, as well as EUR 12.4 billion in fixed-income securities.
The declines in turnover at Deutsche Börse are a continuation of a trend experienced throughout Europe at the end of 2008. Turnover across all European equity trading venues fell to EUR 961 billion in December 2008 compared with EUR 983 billion in November 2008 and EUR 1.25 trillion in December 2007, according to data provider Thomson Reuters.