Bourse Batters Through 1,000 Billion Turnover Barrier

The bourse in June was as changeable as the weather. The rising trend of the first five months of the year came to an end. Initially the index registered a string of new highs, but later share prices stagnated as US dollar support fell away (having booked a six percent gain in the last half year), long-term interest rates rose and further rate cuts failed to materialise. The Amsterdam EOE Index finished the month at 560.33 points, a loss of 1.7 percent on end-May.

However, the AEX has risen sharply in the first 1996 half, thanks to the economic upturn and strong demand for shares. The index added 15 percent while the MidCap index of medium capitalized stocks advanced 46 percent. Turnover levels displayed a similar trend. Turnover battered through the thousand billion guilder barrier as early as June (on the 27th) an increase of 48 percent compared with the previous year. The sharp rise in the number of transactions served to strengthen the impression that private investors are