A total of more than $18 trillion was “wiped off” global markets in the first six months of 2022, as the global economy continues to be impacted by the Ukraine-Russia conflict, right after the pandemic halted operations globally in 2019.
The new report by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) said there was a sharp retraction in market capitalisation of around 15 percent, compared to the same period last year.
All global regions experienced decreases of similar proportions.
Initial public offerings (IPOs) jumped by 52 percent during the first six months of 2022, however, capital raised through IPOs fell by 62 percent.
“Growth prospects were already subdued as the tragic Ukraine conflict caused major disruption in the energy and commodity markets. This combined with global economies already struggling to recover from the pandemic has led to a perfect storm that has hit growth prospects hard,” WFE’s chief executive officer Nandini Sukumar said.
Trading activity in cash equities increased in the Americas and in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region by 26 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
Value traded increased by 17 percent and 13 percent respectively compared to the same period, last year.
In the Asia Pacific (APAC) region the number of trades decreased marginally by 2.98 percent but the value traded decreased by around 23 percent, the data said.
The number of exchange-traded derivatives contracts reached its highest level from the last five years, totalling $39.37 billion.
This showed an increase of 17.2 percent on figures from the second half of 2021, the report said.
“Our new data indicates a severe market capitalisation retraction, a decrease in the number of newly listed companies, and a decline in the investment flows through IPOs,” WFE’s head of research Dr. Pedro Gurrola-Perez said.
Gurrola-Perez added despite the rise in trading activity, cash equities, and exchange-traded derivatives, the report indicates extreme uncertainty of the global economy.
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