A comprehensive study on the
world share market or the stock exchanges of the world gives an idea on the business and trade going on the international level and also on economic condition of the corresponding country.
World Share Market Functionalities
A stock market gives the idea of a market where the trading of company shares, stocks and bonds take place on a large scale along with issuing and redemption of the securities and other financial instruments. Shares offered by the companies, pooled investment products like unit trusts and bonds are the securities that are generally traded in the share markets. In order to trade certain security on a share market, the security has to be listed in that share market.
The
global share market participants may range from the small individual stock investors to the large-scale hedge fund investors. One type of the stock market may include the traders going for verbal bids while the other type may be virtual where a network of computers trade via electronic server.
Over last couple of years following an immense growth on electronic communication, the virtual share market is now growing phenomenally; the advantage being over the cost and speed of transaction.
Some major roles of world share market are
- Raising Capital for Companies
- Facilitating the Company Growth
- Mobilizing Savings for Investment
- Corporate Governance
- Redistribution of Wealth
- Acting as a Barometer of the Economy
- Government Capital-Raising for Development Projects
- Creating Investment Opportunities for Small Investors
The Twenty Largest Stock Exchanges by the market Capitalization as listed on July 12, 2007 by the World Federation of Exchanges are:
| Stock Exchange | Market Capitalization (in trillion USD) |
|---|
| NYSE Euronext | $20.692 |
| Tokyo Stock Exchange | $4.679 |
| NASDAQ | $4.163 |
| London Stock Exchange | $4.023 |
| Hong Kong Stock Exchange | $2.124 |
| Toronto Stock Exchange | $1.985 |
| Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Deutsche Börse) | $1.973 |
| Shanghai Stock Exchange | $1.738 |
| Madrid Stock Exchange (BME Spanish Exchanges) | $1.515 |
| Australian Securities Exchange | $1.324 |
| Swiss Exchange | $1.318 |
Nordic Stock Exchange Group OMX (Copenhagen,
Helsinki, Iceland, Stockholm, Tallinn,
Riga and Vilnius Stock Exchanges) | $1.296 |
| Milan Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana) | $1.123 |
| Bombay Stock Exchange | $1.005 |
| Korea Exchange | $1.001 |
| São Paulo Stock Exchange | $0.981 |
| National Stock Exchange of India | $0.962 |
| Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange | $0.86 (January 2007) |
| Johannesburg Securities Exchange | $0.802 |
| Taiwan Stock Exchange | $0.610 |
Source: World Federation of Exchanges
For more information on the share markets of the world, please click on the following links: