Temples of trade: The world's best and biggest bourses

Some of the world’s largest stock exchanges have more than just money to show for themselves

Jul 06, 2015, 06:23 IST3 min

<strong>Bombay Stock Exchange<br />Founded:</strong> 1875<br /><strong>Owner:</strong> BSE Limited<br /><strong>Address:</strong> Dalal Street, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai <br /><strong>Market capitalisation:</strong> $1.7 trillion<br />The origins of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia&rsquos oldest, can be traced to informal gatherings of Gujarati and Parsi businessmen in front of the city&rsquos Town Hall in the 1850s. It was in 1928, that the Native Share and Stock Brokers&rsquo Association moved to its current location the present 29-storey Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, in which the Exchange is housed, was constructed by 1980. The BSE has the world&rsquos largest number of companies (over 5,000) listed on it <br /><br />

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Bombay Stock ExchangeFounded: 1875Owner: BSE LimitedAddress: Dalal Street, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai Market capitalisation: $1.7 trillionThe origins of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia&rsquos oldest, can be traced to informal gatherings of Gujarati and Parsi businessmen in front of the city&rsquos Town Hall in the 1850s. It was in 1928, that the Native Share and Stock Brokers&rsquo Association mo

Image by Getty Images

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London Stock ExchangeFounded: 1801Owner: Part of London Stock Exchange GroupAddress: 10, Paternoster Square, LondonMarket capitalisation: £4.09 trillionLondon&rsquos Stock Exchange can be traced to the city&rsquos 17th century coffee houses. The earliest evidence of trading goes back to 1698, when rowdy brokers were thrown out of the Royal Exchange, and they began to work on the streets a

Image by Reuters

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BM&F BovespaFounded: 1980Owner: BM&FBovespaAddress: Praca Antonio Prado, 48 Centro, Sao PauloMarket capitalisation: R$21.14 billionIn 2008, the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange (Bovespa) and the Brazilian Mercantile Futures Exchange (BM&F) combined to form BM&FBovespa. Until the 1960s, Bovespa and other Brazilian stock markets were owned by the government and brokers too were state-appointed. It

Image by BM&FBovespa

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Hong Kong Stock ExchangeFounded: 1891Owner: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (holding company)Address: Capital, Exchange Square, Kong KongMarket capitalisation: HK$30 trillionThe exchange, although old, is housed in a 52-storey tower at Exchange Square, an award-winning example of contemporary architecture. The HKE, Asia&rsquos third largest and the world&rsquos sixth, is witnessing some

Image by Corbis

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Tokyo Stock ExchangeFounded: 1878Owner: Japan Exchange Group IncAddress: 2-1 Nihombashikabuto-cho, Chuo-ku, TokyoMarket capitalisation: ¥492 trillionAlso called Tosho, this is the third largest exchange in the world. Natural disasters and wars (the Exchange was briefly shut after the Nagasaki bombing in 1945) have led researchers to study how these calamities affect the stock market. Alth

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New York Stock ExchangeFounded: 1817Owner: Intercontinental ExchangeAddress: 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York CityMarket capitalisation: $16.61 trillion The neo-classical architecture of the building, by George B Post, was selected from among eight entries in a competition to design the exchange in 1901. The building was completed in 1903, for $4 million, after many overruns and

Image by Corbis