- Trading turnover of CHF 125.9 billion (+1.8% month-on-month)
- Number of trades 5,549,702 (+1.1% month-on-month)
- Average turnover per trading day of CHF 6.0 billion in the year to date
- In the first quarter of 2018, for the first time ever ETFs were the second-largest segment in terms of turnover
- Three new listings in four working days – highest level since 2006
The highest turnover on a single trading day was recorded on 16 March, which saw securities worth a total volume of CHF 10.8 billion changing hands. This was a triple witch day – usually the third Friday of the third month in the quarter – which is when futures and options expire. 28 March was the trading day on which the highest number of transactions was conducted, at 325,435. The stock that generated the highest turnover during the reporting month was NOVARTIS N, while ROCHE GS was the most-traded security.
The increase in activity evident in March was a reflection of the trend across the whole of the first quarter. Even though the corresponding period last year featured two extra trading days, trading turnover was up by 0.9% to CHF 374.5 billion, while the number of trades soared by 32.1% to 16,989,362. For the first time in the history of SIX Swiss Exchange, the ETFs segment accounted for the second-highest trading turnover over a quarter. Generating total turnover of CHF 31.6 billion, ETFs therefore came in second behind the equities including funds + ETPs segment, which posted overall turnover of CHF 301.8 billion during the first three months of 2018.
The performance of the individual trading segments in March was as follows: In the equities including funds + ETPs segment, trading turnover rose by 8.7% to CHF 105.3 billion, with the number of trades up by 1.7% to 5,367,101. The number of trades in the CHF bonds segment increased by 3.1% to 30,712, while turnover was down by 12.8% to CHF 9.5 billion. Trading turnover in ETFs fell by 34.6% to CHF 8.1 billion, with the number of trades down by 18.8% to 92,348. As far as structured products and warrants are concerned, turnover was down by 20.0% to CHF 1.1 billion, while the number of trades declined by 11.7% to 58,206.
31 new CHF bond issues (+3.3%) and 3,034 new structured products and warrants (-2.0%) were admitted to trading in March. In total, issuers have therefore listed 78 new CHF bonds (+16.4%) and 9,722 new structured products and warrants (+9.2%) in the year to date.
The performance of the most important equity indices was as follows in March 2018: the blue chip SMI® index closed at 8,741.0 points at the end of March (-1.9% month-on-month; -6.8% versus end-2017). The SLI Swiss Leader Index® ended the month at 1,434.7 points (-2.4%/-5.5%), with the broader-based SPI® coming in at 10,189.9 points (-0.7%/-5.2%). The SBI® AAA-BBB Total Return index was up versus February (+0.5%/-0.7% compared with end-2017) at 135.5 points.