ROME, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 39 companies listed their shares on the Italian Stock Exchange this year, helping to expand the exchange's total market capitalization to nearly 40 percent of the country's gross domestic product, Ansa News Agency reported on Friday.
The Milan-based exchange had a market capitalization of 761 billion euros (843 billion U.S. dollars) by the close of trading on Friday, the last trading day of the year, marking an increase of 21.6 percent compared to the market capitalization of 626 billion euros recorded a year earlier.
It was an exceptionally strong year for the Milan bourse, with its main index achieving its peak for 2023 earlier this month at 30,427 points -- the highest level in absolute terms since 2008, Ansa reported.
In total, the Italian Stock Exchange's market capitalization accounts for 39.4 percent of Italy's economy, marking a rise from 33.9 percent compared to the same period last year.
Out of the 39 newly listed companies on the exchange, 36 debuted through Initial Public Offerings, the bourse reported on Friday, indicating that these companies offered their shares to the public for the first time. The addition of these new issues brought the total number of companies trading on the Italian Stock Exchange to 429. (1 euro = 1.11 U.S. dollar) ■
