European equity trading climbs 28% in first half
European equity trading volumes surged 28 per cent in the first half 2015 compared to the same period last year, with volumes hitting €6.36 trillion, dominated by US banks.
The bump in trading volumes, reported by number crunchers at Markit, coincides with a buoyant period for European equities. As the ECB launched its QE programme, European stocks enjoyed romping rallies, writes Joel Lewin.
The Euro Stoxx 600 index surged 21 per cent in the first three and a half months. Despite the subsequent slide as tensions surrounding the Greek crisis escalated, the index still enjoyed its best half since 1997.
US banks have been dominating European equity trading.
Morgan Stanley is the cat that got the cream. It’s the only bank that topped €1 trillion worth of trades, with Bank of America Merrill Lynch second on €894bn, according to Markit data. Five of the top ten were US banks.
Morgan Stanley was the leading broker across four of the five main indices, topping trading in France’s CAC 40, Germany’s DAX, Spain’s IBEX and Italy’s FTSE MIB.
However, BAML broke Morgan Stanley’s run and stole top spot for FTSE 100 trading.
Instinet, the electronic trading platform that serves as the independent equity trading arm of Nomura, came third for total European volumes with trades worth a total €715bn.
The surge in trading eluded Eastern Europe, however, and volumes in the region were flat year on year at €75bn.
ETFs enjoyed a stonking six months of trading that saw volumes almost double to €314bn, up from €159bn a year earlier.
Source: The Financial Times
