The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) ranks as the cheapest place to trade securities in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Sydney-based Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC).
However, not all is as rosy as it may appear in India. According to a desk head at an institution in Hong Kong, whilst trading one share in India might be cheap, when handling large, institutional-sized quantities or when trading blocks, the country is one of the most expensive markets in Asia.
According to CMCRC, at 5.63 basis points, the NSE is one-third the cost of trading on its local rival, the Bombay Stock Exchange. The Australian and Tokyo markets (the Australian Securities Exchange and Japan Exchange), come in at around 18 basis points, with Hong Kong at 24 basis points.
“The National Stock Exchange of India is leagues in front of its competitors in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of cost of trading,” said Mike Aitken, the CEO of CMCRC. “It compares favourably to the most efficient markets in the world.”
According to his research, costs at the London Stock Exchange stand at 8.36 basis points, with the NYSE and Nasdaq – the two largest exchange operators in the US, at 5.17 and 6.36 basis points respectively.