Trading volume in Canada rose in the fourth quarter, although the value of trading was down, according to data released Thursday by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

IIROC reported that overall the value of securities traded on marketplaces has declined, but both the volume of securities traded and the number of trades has increased significantly.

The total value traded in the quarter was $425 billion, down 17% from the prior quarter and down 6.3% from the same quarter a year ago. However, total trading volume surpassed 45 billion shares in the quarter, up 31.4% from the third quarter and up 12.7% from Q4 2007. The number of trades in the quarter was 61.2 million, up 25.4% from Q3, and up 67.4% from Q4 2007.

The report compiled data from the markets monitored by IIROC: the Toronto Stock Exchange; Alpha Trading Systems; Bloomberg Tradebook Canada Company; Chi-X Canada ATS Limited; Liquidnet Canada Inc.; Perimeter Markets Inc.; and TriAct Canada Marketplace LP.

IE