European Equity Market Structure Review

European equities markets continue to thrive despite macro uncertainty

The summer trading period delivered the seventh consecutive record-breaking quarter for trading volumes, measured against their seasonal counterparts. Remarkably, the third quarter beat the eight-year average for H1 trading volumes, normally by far the busiest part of the year for equities, using inflation adjusted data.

The macro environment is surely more uncertain than four years ago, when the onset of war in Ukraine triggered a sustained retreat by the equity market into a risk-off position. Now we have the highest bond yields in nearly two decades, a renewed energy crisis threatening higher inflation, and increased political focus on the AI industry which would normally imply greater fear and uncertainty. Yet the global market for equities seems more resilient than ever, confounding the bears and pointing towards a fundamental change in investor attitudes. Q3 reinforces the trend towards a regime change over the last two years.

Market volumes are essential inputs for all aspects of the investment cycle. Managers can observe patterns in investment flows and use liquidity indicators to evaluate entry and exit costs during asset selection. Traders need high precision, unbiased and independent data to guide their execution strategies to minimise implementation costs. As the markets churn out billions of data points a day, precision and accuracy are everything. Read the Review for a high-level summary built from the data and insights we provide every day.