10 Largest Stock Exchanges in Asia by Volume

Today we are going to take a look at some of the world’s largest trading places as we discover which 10 largest stock exchanges in Asia by volume are.

According to some economists, the origins of a stock exchange can be found in Roman’s societates publicanorum, associations of contractors who performed various public works on behalf of Senate. Cicero mentions in his works that their shares could be traded, which is the first time in history that the concept was cited.

Fast forward some 1,500 years and we arrive at Italian city-states and later Amsterdam which established the first stock exchanges in the modern sense of the world. At first they were no more than tea and coffee houses where traders gathered to exchange information and conclude deals, but over time, these have evolved into the economy’s driving force, increasing the trade volume by a huge margin. The London Exchange, featured in top 5 among the 20 largest stock exchanges in the world, has its origins in a dimly lit coffee house with lists of tradable goods and their prices nailed to its walls.

What happened next set up the trend that has kept up until today. First, several companies went public, seeking investors for overseas projects. Fueled by relentless race for colonies and promises of huge riches that could be made, people hurried to invest their money in these companies. One of these was South Sea trading company, whose crash in 1720 nearly took the entire England’s economy with it and is regarded as the first (and one of the worst) financial bubble crisis in history.

In Asia, the oldest stock exchange was founded in Bombay in mid-19^th century. Although not the largest stock exchange in Asia by volume, it is considered one of the fastest. In recent decades, as Asian economies grew, so did their stock exchanges and today they represent a large portion of world’s economy. Stock markets in Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong, while still lagging behind Wall Street stock exchange in market capitalization, they are getting close in volume.

Let’s see where they place on our list of 10 largest stock exchanges in Asia by volume.

10. Indonesia Stock Exchange IDX

Monthly volume: $ 7.8 billion

Created in 2007 by a merger of Jakarta Stock Exchange and Surabaya Stock Exchange, Indonesia Stock Exchange can trace its roots back to 1912, when the Dutch opened the first stock market in Jakarta.