The global inves­tor appetite for listed securities rose in the first half of 2024, a new data pub­lished by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the global industry group for exchanges and central clearing counterpar­ties has revealed.

It said trading value in­creased 11.7 per cent, and volumes rose 9.6 per cent, as markets were highly liquid globally despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties.

It said the global equity mar­ket capitalisation increased by 5 per cent in the first half of this year, compared to the second half of 2023, reaching $116.16 trillion, with over $5 trillion add­ed to stock markets worldwide.

“While markets in the Americas region grew the most (+9.4 per cent), APAC markets increased 1.4 per cent, while EMEA markets were flat. When compared with H1 2023, there was an increase of 9.36 per cent globally, mainly driven by the Americas region (15.82 per cent),” WFE stated.

In the six months to July 2024, the WFE indicated that global eq­uity market capitalisation was up by 5 per cent, driven largely by the Americas, whilst the rapid growth in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region reported at the end of 2023 slowed, while Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA’s) market capitalisation was flat.

Compared to the previous half, WFE said Initial Public Of­fers (IPOs) fell 24.2 per cent.

“The number of IPOs in the Americas rose by 36.4 per cent, whilst both APAC and EMEA registered decreases, down -30.8 per cent and -31.7 per cent re­spectively. The number of listed companies is down marginally by 0.3 per cent globally, though the number of listings in the Ameri­cas fell less than the same period the prior year. The EMEA region saw the sharpest decrease in the number of listings, and APAC listings grew by 0.48 per cent,” WFE explained.

Moreover, it noted that despite the overall decline in capital raised through IPOs, the average size of an IPO went up 18.8 per cent compared to the second half of 2023 and that was partially due to seven unicorn listings, adding that the largest unicorn, Puig Brands, listed on SIX Group’s BME Span­ish Exchanges and SIX Group’s Swiss Exchange also hosted the second largest unicorn, Galderma Group, a pharmaceutical compa­ny.

Commenting on the Global Securities Market performance, the Chief Executive Officer of WFE, Nandini Sukumar said, “Investor demand for ex­change-traded securities continue to grow, reflecting the fundamen­tal stability of public markets in times of uncertainty. The data shows that investors are here and are looking for capital allocation opportunities. Exchanges call on governments and regulators to pull the necessary policy levers to encourage businesses to float and benefit from public finance. Without a strong pipeline of companies coming to market, the whole economy suffers.”

The Head of Research at the WFE, Dr Pedro Gurrola-Perez, added that, “For the second half of the year a decline in infla­tionary pressures and an ease in monetary policy may support the positive trends we observed in the first half of 2024. The persistent geopolitical tensions, a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy coupled with the uncertainty de­rived from the U.S election, and could inhibit market growth. If that’s the case, it will be hard on companies looking for capital, investors looking for attractive assets and savers looking to maximise their savings.”