Top 10 International Stock Exchanges..!

This is a brief look at the top 10 forex stock markets on a global scale.

One of the criteria used to assign rankings to international stock exchanges is the market depth, which in itself is a function of liquidity, capitalization and number of market participants. What follows is our list of the top 10 International Stock Exchanges, using the value of shares traded as the indicator.

1)      New York Stock Exchange (United States)
2)      NASDAQ (United States)
3)  Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Hong Kong)
4)      Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Germany)
5)      Shanghai Stock Exchange (China)
6)      London Stock Exchange (UK)
7)      Tokyo Stock Exchange (Japan)
8)      Euronext (Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal)
9)      BME Exchange (Spain)
10)      Italian Stock Exchange (Italy)



It is not entirely surprising that the first two places on this list have gone to two exchanges located in the United States. In terms of market depth, the US exchanges are tops. Many foreign companies are listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NASDAQ as American Depository Receipts, where they can be traded. This lack of geographical inhibitions has put the NYSE and NASDAQ firmly in the number one and number two spots with a combined value of traded shares at $45.23 trillion.

Next on the list is the London Stock Exchange, with a combined trade volume of $10.3 trillion. Japan has been known as one of the foremost economic global powers. Even though its economy has stagnated for a number of years now, its stock market has seen some activity with a trade volume of $6.5 trillion to put it in fourth place.

The Euronext exchange operates in Lisbon, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. This geographical spread has served to increase the market depth that would otherwise have been infinitesimal in these countries, and pushed the exchange up to the 5th position with a trade volume of $5.6 trillion.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange comes in sixth, which is not bad for an exchange that had arguably the strongest currency in Europe prior to the introduction of the Euro in 1999. Its trade volume for the period in review came in at $4.3 trillion.

Next on the list is the emerging market stock exchange of China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Prior to the global financial crisis, the Shanghai Stock exchange witnessed remarkable increase in activity, and this has not abated since. With a trade volume of $4.1 trillion and a rate of growth of the Chinese economy that is yet to be matched by any other country, it will not be surprising if this exchange moves up in the rankings in the next few years.

This may not be good times for Spain and Italy, but their respective exchanges managed to make the list with trade volumes of $2.9 trillion and $2.3 trillion respectively. It is hoped that the respective governments can sort out the issues affecting the economies of the two countries, or we may see them dropping off the top 10 international stock exchanges list.

Bringing up the rear in our top 10 list is the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a trade volume of $2.1 trillion.

As changes occur in the economies of the respective countries we are sure to see changes in positions on this list. But it will be difficult to unseat the United States stock exchanges from the top positions.

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