TOKYO -- The Tokyo Stock Exchange slipped to the third-largest Asian bourse in 2014 by trading value after being overtaken by the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, as retail investors poured funds into Chinese stocks.
The value of trading on the TSE shrank 16% from 2013 to $5.4 trillion, according to calculations by the World Federation of Exchanges. The yen-denominated figure fell 6% because of sluggish activity until the summer, and the weak yen further weighed down the sum in dollar terms.
On the other hand, trading in Shanghai jumped by 63% to $6 trillion, while the Shenzhen bourse saw a 54% gain to $5.9 trillion. Retail investors, who are said to account for 60-80% of trading in China, poured a massive amount of funds into the stock market after the central bank cut interest rates. Margin trading, where market players borrow money in order to invest, increased as well. Trading in Shanghai topped the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest bourse, in the month of December.
The TSE relinquished the top spot in Asia to Shanghai in 2009 and 2010, but had ranked first in the region for three straight years since 2011.
(Nikkei)
