Volatility and increased uncertainty in global markets last week meant extra demands for huge trading volumes on world markets. South Africa’s JSE Ltd. handled the increased action and it broke three trading records with record numbers of trades first on Wednesday and then again on Friday. At least one leading US exchange had some error trades last week.
According to figures from the JSE (www.jse.co.za) a record number of 189,253 trades were executed on the exchange last Friday 7 May, valued at more than R30 billion ($4.05 bln). The previous record was set on Wednesday 5 May, with 184,336 trades for a total value of R20.1 bln.
The total number of trades on the exchange for last week was also a record, totalling 751,381 trades. The previous weekly record was 535,883 trades set in October 2008, during the global financial crisis.
Leanne Parsons, Head of Equities Trading at the JSE, says: “This record trading week is due to increased global uncertainty, both in Europe and the United States. This fear in the marketplace leads to increased volatility and increased trading activity.”
Yesterday (10 May), the JSE’s SAVI Volatility Index was at 30.3%, up sharply from 18% a month ago (10 April).
The JSE was launched 123 years ago and used to be known as the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. On 1 March it introduced a new billing model that recognises both low- value and high-volume traders.
Trading statistics for 7 May
Volume 1,018,433,885
Value R30.6 billion (R30,613.4 million)
Number of trades 189,253
Trading statistics for 5 May
Volume 431,071,716
Value R 20.1 billion (20,143.6 million)
Number of trades 184,336
Trading statistics for the previous record 18 March 2010
Volume 539,232,426
Value R26.2 billion (26,160.7 million)
Number of trades 172,433
Values of the JSE All Share Index (3 – 7 May)
Date Value
2010/05/03 28630.82
2010/05/04 27935.85
2010/05/05 27616.68
2010/05/06 27512.83
2010/05/07 26515.07
Source: JSE Ltd
