Over the course of 2011, but especially during the second half of the year, stock markets around the world experienced considerable volatility. Investors, on the whole, displayed a risk-averse attitude towards new investment opportunities.
The uncertainty created by the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone continued to impact the direction of the markets and resulted in frequent market volatility, often on a daily basis. Against this background, the major equity capital markets around the world experienced significant reductions in the volumes of IPOs, secondary fundraisings and the aggregate amount of capital raised.
Here are highlights from some of the key stock markets in 2011.
UK – AIM reported an increase in new listings and new money raised while the Main Market saw a decline in both.
US – NYSE and NASDAQ saw a considerable decline in new listings, as well as new and further money raised.
Europe – Euronext saw a decline in the number of admissions and total money raised. The number of listed companies has been in steady decline since 2009.
Hong Kong – HKSE reported an improvement in listing activity and saw a number of high-profile IPOs from international companies.
Singapore – The total number of companies trading on SGX fell slightly. However, the exchange saw a 10% improvement in further money raised.
South Africa – JSE reported a slight improvement in listing activity. The JSE All-Share Index beat the global trend and rose 0.4% in the second half of 2011.
In the first quarter of 2012 the markets generally displayed a good level of improvement and activity levels appeared to have picked up. Catalysts seemed to have been a combination of steady, positive economic news and firmer action being pursued by the eurozone leaders in tackling the sovereign debt issue. In particular, the European Central Bank (ECB) policy and actions taken since the appointment of Mario Draghi as its chief seemed to have restored investor confidence – at least partially – and demonstrated that the EU and ECB were intent on dealing with the European debt problems.
While improvements in market sentiment and performance achieved in the first quarter of this year are much welcomed, at the time of writing lack of confidence in resolving the eurozone sovereign debt and banking issues have resurfaced and European leaders have been urged to take firm action in dealing with the unfolding crisis.
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