The leading and largest exchange Euronext is a marketplace for trading stocks, bonds, derivatives, commodities, ETFs, indices and other financial instruments and products. Euronext is an alliance of six exchanges with international branches (Brussels, Paris, Dublin, Oslo, Lisbon, Amsterdam). Euronext was founded in 2000 as a result of the merger of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris stock exchanges. The main prerequisites for unification were the formation of the European Union and the creation of a single currency.
The largest derivatives exchange is Eurex. Eurex is a trading, clearing and risk management center. Eurex was established in 1998 as a result of the merger of the German derivatives exchange DTB and the Swiss SOFFEX.
CAC 40 (Cotation Assistee en Continu) is the main index of the French stock market, calculated since 1987. Includes forty stocks listed on the Euronext Paris exchange. The index is weighted by the market capitalization of the stocks in free float. The largest sectors are industrial goods and services, healthcare, and the oil and gas industry.
The London Stock Exchange Group is represented by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the London Metal Exchange (LME). The LSE is one of the oldest stock exchanges in Europe and one of the world's most famous securities markets.
The London Stock Exchange is now in third place in the world in terms of capitalization, turnover and listing (after NYSE and NASDAQ) and in first place in terms of the size of transactions with bonds, depositary receipts, options and futures contracts.
London Metal Exchange (LME) is a global center for trading in industrial metals and is a member of HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited). Metals traded on the LME include non-ferrous metals, precious metals, ferrous metals and rare earths metals.
The main types of LME contracts are futures, options, average price options, average monthly futures, a contract for the HKEX London Minis (Index for Asian contracts), a contract for the LME Index (stock index for 6 major metals: copper, tin, lead, zinc, aluminum and nickel), LMEminis (monthly 5 ton futures).
NASDAQ OMX Europe are subsidiaries of NASDAQ, a leading provider of trading, clearing and exchange technologies, as well as listing, information and public services. NASDAQ OMX Europe has three divisions that provide financial services and marketplaces in the Northern, Baltic and Caucasus regions of Europe.
NASDAQ Nordic - North Market - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Iceland, NASDAQ Baltic - Baltic Market (Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) and NASDAQ Armenia. ICE Futures Europe offers futures and options contracts for energy, emissions, natural gas, as well as freight and agricultural products, interest rates, stock indices. ICE Futures Europe is the world's leading market for quotas and certified emission reductions contracts and the first exchange to offer electronic access to energy markets - up to 50% of the world's crude and refined oil futures. NEWEX - New European Exchange - is the securities market of Central and Eastern Europe, created jointly with Deutsche Boerse (German Stock Market) and Wiener Boerse (Austrian Stock Market).
EEX - European Energy Exchanges (part of EEX Global) - created as a result of the merger of the German exchanges in Frankfurt and Leipzig, is the leading energy exchange in Central Europe. EEX markets trade in contracts for emissions, electricity, natural gas, coal, carbon dioxide, agricultural products, emission quotas, freight. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Deutsche Boerse Group AG) is the largest stock exchange in Germany and has the status of an international stock exchange. The trading floor presents stocks, bonds, mutual funds, Eurobonds.
The Swiss Stock Exchange is the leader in Switzerland and one of the ten largest world exchanges. A quarter of the exchange's assets are foreign. Borsa Italiana is the leading stock market in Italy and Europe, plays an important role in the trading of stocks, ETFs covered warrants, certificates and fixed income instruments. All in all, there several major players in the European stock exchange market and the competition stays vibrant.