DEFINITION of Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA)

Located in Frankfurt, Germany, the FRA is one of the largest and most efficient trading facilities in the world. The FRA posts several indices, including the DAX, the VDAX and the Eurostoxx 50. Its owner is Deutsche Borse, which owns the other German exchanges as well.

BREAKING DOWN Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA)

The Frankfurt Exchange has virtually all of the turnover in Germany and a substantial share of the turnover in Europe. Much of the exchange's profits come from its Xetra trading system, which has allowed an influx of foreign investors to enter the exchange.

Xetra offers trading for stocks, funds, bonds, warrants and commodities contracts, and affords increased flexibility for seeing order depth. Xetra was one of the first global electronic trade systems and now accounts for more than 90% of all stocks that trade on the FRA.  

FRA hours are 9:30 am to 5:30 pm on weekdays.

Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA) and Other Major Global Exchanges

In the United States, three major financial securities markets are:

  • The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): Formerly private, the NYSE became a public entity in 2005, following the acquisition of the electronic trading exchange Archipelago. Its parent company is now called NYSE Euronext, following a merger with the European exchange in 2007.

  • The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation System (Nasdaq): This is the largest electronic screen-based market. It currently offers lower listing fees than NYSE.

  • The American Stock Exchange (AMEX): Unlike the Nasdaq and NYSE, AMEX focuses on exchange-traded funds or ETFs.

International players are the Tokyo Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, Shanghai Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange (India), and BM&F Bovespa (Brazil).

Key findings from the World Federation of Exchanges, which follows trends in global trading, in 2017 included:

  • Global market capitalization being up 22.6%
  • An increase in new listings and investment flows via IPOs by 47.8% and 50.6%, respectively
  • A decline in the value of share trading and the number of trades by 2.6% and 5.1%, respectively, from the year prior
  • Exchange Traded Derivatives (ETD) volumes being up 0.6% at the end of the year, driven largely by more trades in single stock options, stock index options and interest rate futures

Total domestic market capitalization reached a record high of $87.1 trillion in 2017, driven by an increase in market capitalization across the Americas (+17.8%), Asia-Pacific (+27.6%), and EMEA (+24.3%).