volume investment & finance definition

The total number of contracts, stock shares, or other investments that are traded in a particular period. Volume figures are compiled by stock and futures exchanges each trading day, both for the overall exchange and for individual stocks and contracts. Technical analysts monitor volume just as much as they monitor price movements. If a particular price movement occurs on a day with a large trading volume, it is said to have a greater intensity than if the same price action had occurred on a day with average trading volume.