Alternative venues in Japan and Australia ended 2012 on a high note, while a spike in equity trading in China led volume growth across Asia in December.
China’s main bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen propelled Asia forward with strong gains in the last month of the year.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange traded US$279.8 billion in December, a 46% increase on the previous month’s total of US$150.03 billion, while the Shenzhen Stock Exchange reached US$230.7 billion, a 42% rise on November’s figure of US$132.3 billion, according to data from Thomson Reuters Market Share Reporter.
The gains took overall equity trading in Asia to US$1.3 trillion in December, higher than the US$1.09 trillion recorded the previous month, and the US$1.01 trillion traded in December 2011.
Asia’s largest exchange, Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), also experienced a strong end to the year, but has been forced to contend with a loss of market share to proprietary trading systems (PTSs) throughout the year.
Trading on the TSE for December reached US$330.7 billion, an increase on the US$289.7 billion recorded in November.
SBI Japannext has emerged as the TSE’s biggest challenger, recording 3.9% market share in December with trading value reaching US$14.6 billion. The PTS also reported a daily turnover record of US$1.07 billion on 19 December.
Rival PTS Chi-X Japan ended December with a total of 2.6% market share with US$9.6 billion traded during the month.
PTSs may find it more challenging to siphon market share from the TSE after it completes its integration with the derivatives-focused Osaka Securities Exchange this year. The combined entity, known as the Japan Exchange Group, will create the second-largest exchange in the world and promises to lower trading costs for its members.
Meanwhile, Chi-X Australia enjoyed a successful year, trading US$5.5 billion worth of S&P ASX 200 stocks in December, giving the alternative trading system a market share of 11.8% at the end of 2012, up from 9.58% the previous month. The incumbent Australian Stock Exchange traded US$40.7 billion last month.
The Singapore Exchange also recorded year-on-year gains, with December 2012’s total of US$14.8 billion representing a 37% increase on December 2011’s total of US$9.2 billion.