Together, the five biggest stock exchanges in the world have a market capitalisation of more than US$65 trillion (around £45 trillion). They are home to the world’s best-known companies such as Apple, HSBC and Walt Disney.
Find out how you can invest in the world’s largest stock exchanges.
Market capitalisation (often referred to as “market cap”) is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock. It’s pretty easy to calculate – it’s just the total outstanding shares multiplied by the market value of one share.
To find the market cap of a stock exchange, you add up the market capitalisation of all of the companies in the exchange. The biggest stock exchanges each have market capitalisations of more than US$6 trillion.
The New York Stock Exchange is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalisation. Its market capitalisation is US$25.62 trillion (around £18 trillion). It’s home to some of the most recognisable brands in the world such as Twitter, Spotify and Walt Disney.
The NYSE opening hours are 9:30am to 4pm ET, which is 2:30pm to 9pm GMT.
NASDAQ (sometimes referred to as Nasdaq) is the world’s second largest stock exchange by market capitalisation. It started as the world’s first electronic stock market as a quotation system. NASDAQ’s market capitalisation is US$19.51 trillion (around £13.75 trillion). There are some major well-known companies on NASDAQ, including the “FAANG stocks“, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet (Google).
The NASDAQ exchange opening hours are from 9:30 am to 4pm ET, which is 2:30pm to 9pm GMT.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange is one of China’s stock exchanges. It has a market capitalisation of US$6.76 trillion (around £4.77 trillion). The largest company on the Hong Kong exchange is AIA, an insurance and finance company. It’s also home to HSBC Holdings – HSBC Group’s subsidiary in Kong Kong.
The trading hours for the Hong Kong stock exchange are 9:30am to 4pm in the Hong Kong timezone, which is GMT+08:00. In UK time it is open from 1:30am to 8am GMT .
Shanghai Stock Exchange is another of China’s stock exchanges. It has a market capitalisation of US$6.56 trillion (around £4.62 trillion). The bad news is that if you’ve got dreams of investing in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, you can’t. If there’s a company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange that you want to invest in, then it may also be traded on one of the US exchanges.
The opening hours for the Shanghai Stock Exchange are 9:30am to 3pm in the Shanghai timezone which is GMT+08:00. It takes a lunch break from 11:30am to 1pm.
In UK time it is open from 1:30am to 7am GMT with a lunch break from 3:30am to 5am.
Japan Exchange Group is a corporation that manages several exchanges, including the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Osaka Stock Exchange. These exchanges merged in 2011, which puts Japan Exchange Group the fifth largest stock exchange by market capitalisation. It has a total market cap of US$6.54 trillion (around £4.61 trillion).
Japan Exchange Group’s opening hours are from 9am to 3pm JST with a lunch break between 11:30am and 12:30pm which is from midnight to 6am GMT with a lunch break between 2:30am and 3:30am. You’ll definitely need to be an early bird to get the worm.
To invest in the biggest stock exchanges in the world you’ll need an investment broker.
All investing should be regarded as longer term. The value of your investments can go up and down, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. If you’re not sure which investments are right for you, please seek out a financial adviser. Capital at risk.
These are the biggest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation.
| Stock exchange | Short name | Market capitalisation |
|---|---|---|
| New York Stock Exchange | NYSE | US$25.62 trillion |
| Nasdaq | NASDAQ | US$19.51 trillion |
| Hong Kong Stock Exchange | HKEX | US$6.76 trillion |
| Shanghai Stock Exchange | SSE | US$6.56 trillion |
| Japan Exchange Group | JPX | US$6.54 trillion |
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