Wellington, Sept 7 NZPA - Stock exchange operator NZX saw a fall in value and volume of total trades in August compared to the same month last year.

The total number of trades dropped by 23 percent to 42,866 compared to August 2009, and 3 percent compared to July 2010 as it continues to see "muted demand for equities".

The total value traded fell 27 percent to $1.76 billion compared to last year, though it increased by 21 percent on July 2010.

The average daily trades were down 27 percent to 1948, and the daily average value traded was down 30 percent to $80m.

The 38,990 trades on the main board were 23 percent lower than August 2009, and value fell by 26 percent to $1.69m.

On the debt market trades dropped 21 percent to 3768 and value dropped 41 percent to $87m.

The alternative market had a 58 percent fall in trades with 108 and a 60 percent fall in value with $450,000.

NZX last traded at 148, up 3c.

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