The WFE publishes 2018 Full Year Market Highlights

By: The WFE Statistics Team Feb 2019

The WFE has published its 2018 Full Year Market Highlights report.

Global stock markets had a turbulent year in 2018. Volatility made a come-back, breaking the spell of stable markets in 2017. The return of volatility was against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown, geopolitical and trade tensions, concerns about tightening monetary policy, and increased scrutiny of the technology sector. While the year began on a high note, with domestic market capitalisation scaling record levels in markets across the globe, by the end of the year, there were significant declines in market valuations when compared to the beginning of 2018. In the presence of such high volatility, trading activity was up on 2017; however, overall primary market activity saw a slowdown, with a decline in overall IPO listings and investment flows.

Key highlights from the report: 

  • Global domestic market capitalisation was down 14.9% on end 2017.
  • Value and volume of trades in equity shares were up 15.4% and 11.5% respectively on 2017.
  • New listings through IPOs and investment flows through IPOs were down 14.5% and 12.1% on 2017.
  • Exchange traded derivatives volumes were up 19.3% on 2017, driven by increases in volumes traded across all product types except commodity futures.
  • According to the WFE’s full-year statistics, the key trends of 2018 when compared to 2017 were as follows:
  • Global market capitalisation at end 2018 was down 14.9% on 2017.
  • There was a marginal decline of 0.3% in the number of listed companies.
  • Value and volume of trades in equity shares were up 15.4% and 11.5% respectively on 2017.
  • Overall new listings and investment flows on exchanges were down on 2017.
  • Value and volumes of trades in ETFs were up on 2017.
  • Exchange traded derivatives volumes were up 19.3% on 2017, driven by increases in volumes traded across all product types except commodity futures. In an environment of monetary policy uncertainty and high volatility in equity and currency markets, volumes of equity, currency and interest rate derivatives were higher in 2018 than in 2017.

You can read the full report by clicking here.