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
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Image by : Getty Images
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Founded: 1875
Owner: BSE Limited
Address: Dalal Street, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai
Market capitalisation: $1.7 trillion
The origins of the Bombay Stock Exchange, Asia’s oldest, can be traced to informal gatherings of Gujarati and Parsi businessmen in front of the city’s Town Hall in the 1850s. It was in 1928, that the Native Share and Stock Brokers’ 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’s largest number of companies (over 5,000) listed on it
Image by : Reuters
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Founded: 1801
Owner: Part of London Stock Exchange Group
Address: 10, Paternoster Square, London
Market capitalisation: £4.09 trillion
London’s Stock Exchange can be traced to the city’s 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 and in cafes, particularly Jonathan’s Coffee House in Change Alley. In 1773, they built their own building in Sweeting’s Alley, calling it, briefly, New Jonathan’s, and then The Stock Exchange. During World War I, the Exchange had its own battalion—The Stock Exchange Battalion of Royal Fusiliers—of 1,600 volunteers; it also remained closed from July-end 1914 till the new year. However, during World War II, it was closed only for six days in 1939, and one day in 1945, when it was hit by a rocket (although trading continued in the basement)
Image by : BM&FBovespa
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Founded: 1980
Owner: BM&FBovespa
Address: Praca Antonio Prado, 48 Centro, Sao Paulo
Market capitalisation: R$21.14 billion
In 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 was only in 2007, that Bovespa became a for-profit establishment
Image by : Corbis
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Founded: 1891
Owner: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (holding company)
Address: Capital, Exchange Square, Kong Kong
Market capitalisation: HK$30 trillion
The exchange, although old, is housed in a 52-storey tower at Exchange Square, an award-winning example of contemporary architecture. The HKE, Asia’s third largest and the world’s sixth, is witnessing some major action. A Bloomberg report says it is poised to overtake Tokyo as the world’s third largest equity market, with the value of equities listed in Hong Kong rising to $4.9 trillion in April (Tokyo’s is at $5 trillion).
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Founded: 1878
Owner: Japan Exchange Group Inc
Address: 2-1 Nihombashikabuto-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Market capitalisation: ¥492 trillion
Also 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. Although there have been fallouts of natural disasters—the March 2011 Fukushima disaster hit international trade, and affected oil prices—it has been concluded that the long-term impact is not of much significance. These disasters are believed to add to the volatility of the market, but not lead to significant losses
Image by : Corbis
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Founded: 1817
Owner: Intercontinental Exchange
Address: 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City
Market 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 delays. It rises 10 storeys, with six Corinthian columns and a flat-arched doorway. The trading floor was one of the largest rooms of its times—109 feet long, 140 feet wide and 72 feet high. The front of the building is one giant window, 96 feet long and 50 feet high. The Exchange was also one of the earliest buildings in New York to use air-conditioning. In 1978, the NYSE building was declared a National Historic Landmark
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