The Largest Stock Exchange In the World
1. New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the world’s largest stock exchange, with a total market capitalization of slightly more than $23 trillion. The service also allows you to trade stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fixed income, and options.
It was founded in 1817, but it did not use the NYSE symbol until 1963. The New York Stock Exchange Group had a bumpy road to the top, with infamous events like the 1929 Wall Street Crash and Black Tuesday in 1987. However, it has remained the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization since the end of World War I, when it surpassed the London Stock Exchange. In 2012, the NYSE was purchased by Intercontinental Exchange, an American futures exchange group.
2. NASDAQ Stock Exchange
The NASDAQ Stock Exchange is ranked second. The NASDAQ, another of the world’s largest stock exchanges, is home to well-known technology companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.
The NASDAQ, as an industry leader in the United States, allows you to buy and sell equities, futures, and options of some of the world’s most innovative companies. Surprisingly, the company does not allow financial firms to list on its indexes. It is heavily weighted toward consumer services and healthcare, and it has never listed utilities, oil, and gas, or basic materials stocks. The NASDAQ stock exchange is also located in New York, in the well-known Times Square. It is an acronym that stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations and was founded in 1971 by a group of local stockbrokers. The NASDAQ is unique in that it has never used an open outcry system; instead, it has always traded using a computer and telephone-based system, making it the first electronic stock exchange.
In March 2018, the NASDAQ’s market capitalization reached $10.93 trillion, making it the world’s second-largest stock exchange.
3. Japan Exchange Group
The Japan Exchange Group is the world’s third-largest stock exchange. The TOPIX, Nikkei 225, and Nikkei 225 Futures exchanges allow you to trade global equities, stock, and index futures, as well as stock and index options. The exchange employs 1,093 people, has a market capitalization of $11,500,000,000 (yen), and has issued 536,351,448 total shares. Due to the country’s involvement in the war, the TSE did face problems after WWII, and it was even suspended between August 1945 and April 1949. It was rebranded in 1949 and is now more commonly known as the Japan Exchange Group. In 2013, the Osaka Securities Stock Exchange and the TSE merged to form the group. The Tokyo Stock Exchange now collaborates with other exchanges worldwide, including the London Stock Exchange.
4. Shanghai Stock Exchange (China)
China, the world’s second-largest economy, also has one of the world’s largest stock exchanges.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) lists 1,463 companies, 12,888 securities, and 1,507 stocks. You can also trade equities, index funds, bonds, and options on the exchange. The SSE is distinguished from Western exchanges by government regulation. The Chinese government is heavily involved in equity market support. Despite being founded in 1990, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is the world’s fourth-largest stock exchange. The exchange was established in 1866, but it was suspended in 1949 due to the Chinese revolution.
Each stock on the SSE has ‘A’ shares that are priced in yuan and ‘B’ shares that are quoted in US dollars.. ‘A’ shares are only available for domestic investment, with the exception of investors who qualify for the foreign investment scheme, whereas ‘B’ shares are available to both domestic and foreign investors.
5. Euronext (Europe)
Euronext, another of the world’s largest stock exchanges, is home to the AEX-INDEX, the CAC 40, and the PSI-20.
The exchange, which trades equities, ETFs, fixed income, and derivatives, has a market capitalization of nearly $5 trillion.
In addition, the exchange has nearly 1,300 issued shares, 260 corporate members, and over 200 trading partners and clearing members. Euronext merged with the NYSE Group to form NYSE Euronext in 2007, and Intercontinental Exchange took over the exchange entirely in 2013. Then, in June 2014, Euronext went public in order to re-establish itself as a separate entity.
Euronext is the world’s fifth-largest stock exchange, with a market capitalization of $4.36 trillion. Because the exchange covers several countries, there are 1300 listed companies and 30 stock indices that can be used to track the exchange’s performance. The Euronext 100, however, is the dominant stock index for Euronext-listed companies, consisting of the largest and most liquid stocks on the Euronext Stock Exchange, including AXA, Christian Dior, and Renault.
6. London Stock Exchange Group (UK and Italy)
The London Stock Exchange Group is another of the world’s largest stock exchanges, with a market capitalization of approximately 4.6 trillion. The exchange allows you to trade international equities, ETFs, fixed income, and derivatives. It also provides investors with unrivaled access to Europe’s major capital markets. The London Stock Exchange Group owns the LSE, which was formed in 2007 when the LSE merged with the Borsa Italiana. It is the world’s most international stock exchange, with over 3000 companies from 70 countries.
In March 2018, the London Stock Exchange’s market capitalization was $4.38 trillion. The Financial Times Stock Exchange Index 100 Share Index, or FTSE 100, allows traders to track the performance of the LSE and its market capitalization. The index includes the top 100 London Stock Exchange companies, including Barclays, BP, and GlaxoSmithKline. Other indices that can be used to track companies listed on the London Stock Exchange include the FTSE 250, FTSE Small Cap, and FTSE All-Share.
7. Hong Kong Exchanges
The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market ranked seventh on our list of the world’s largest stock exchanges, is home to the Hang Seng Index. The exchange trades stocks, ETFs, fixed income, and derivatives. Within its various groups, there are 2,324 listed companies, 6,652 derivative warrants, and 1,206 total debt securities.
With a market capitalization of $4.46 trillion in March 2018, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is Asia’s third-largest stock exchange and the world’s seventh-largest. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange trades in Hong Kong Dollars (HKD), as the majority of the companies listed are based in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has 1955 companies listed on it; a large portion of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s market capitalization comes from its 20 largest stocks, which include AIA, Tencent Holdings, and HSBC Holdings.
8. Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China)
China’s financial markets, like those of the United States, have a second major player in the exchange space.
The Shenzhen Stock Exchange is one of the world’s largest stock exchanges, with a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion.
The exchange, which is home to some of China’s largest technology companies, offers A-shares (equity), B-shares (equity), ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income, and derivatives. In March 2018, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange had a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, making it the world’s eighth-largest stock exchange.
Because the companies listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange are primarily based in China, the SZSE trades shares in the Chinese yuan. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange also houses the SME Board, which was established in 2004 for manufacturing companies, and the ChiNext board, which was launched in 2009 to replicate the NASDAQ’s focus on technology start-ups.
9. Deutsche Börse (AG Germany)
Another European behemoth, Deutsche Börse, has a market capitalization of 2.34 trillion, making it one of the world’s largest stock exchanges.
The exchange, which is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, provides pre-IPO and listing services, trading, clearing, settlement, custody collateral, and liquidity management, as well as market data to traders and other participants.
10. Bombay Stock Exchange (India)
The Bombay Stock Exchange rounds out our list of the top ten largest stock exchanges in the world.
As India’s largest exchange provider, with a market capitalization of 2.3 trillion, it is also one of the world’s largest stock exchanges.
The exchange, which is home to the S&P BSE SENSEX, India’s most widely followed benchmark index, provides exposure to equities in Brazil, Russia, China, and South Africa.
The exchange also trades stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income, and currency and commodity derivatives. Furthermore, the exchange has approximately 5,000 listed companies, but only 2,000 of them are actively traded. How long there have been stock exchanges or their predecessors is lost in the mists of time.
