London’s junior market has seen its liquidity fall as investors head to the United States.
Companies on the Alternative Investor Market (AIM) have suffered a 15.4 percent drop in the average daily trading value of their shares.
This underlines wider concerns about the UK stock market as companies continue to be snapped up by foreign predators or choose to list abroad.
Average liquidity fell to £248,990 for the year to February, down from £294,300, according to accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.
He said the decline was partly due to British investors trading stocks listed elsewhere, such as technology stocks such as Nvidia.
Concerns: Alternative Investor Market companies have suffered a 15.4 percent drop in the average daily trading value of their shares.
Colin Wright, of UHY Hacker Young, said: “While AIM remains a key trading platform, the drop in its liquidity shows that more needs to be done to help keep UK stock markets attractive places for trading and investment. “.
A number of companies have abandoned their listings on AIM, falling from 70 to 738 at the end of March. Only one company has joined, while last year ten were listed. In 2007 there were 1,700 companies.