Hong Kong Stock Market
The Hong Kong stock market is the second largest stock exchange in Asia. With the merger between Hong Kong Futures Exchange, Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited, the HKEx was founded in 2000. The Hong Kong stock market is part of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing. As of 2008, the exchange had a total securities market capitalisation of over 1 trillion US dollars. This placed the Hong Kong stock market as the world's eighth largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalisation.
The Hong Kong stock market operates in three different areas: securities market, derivatives market and stock settlement. Two trading platforms are used in the Hong Kong stock market. First is the Main Board. This is the market that was established for capital growth. The second platform used is the Growth Enterprise Market or GEM. This platform allows raising of funds for companies deemed as "high growth, high risk." The Hong Kong stock market makes use of the AMS/3 trading system. Implemented in 2000, the AMS/3 is an electronic trading system used in the Hong Kong stock market. Trading hours are from 10:0 AM to 12:30 PM and from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The main index of the Hong Kong stock market is the Hang Seng Index, which tracks the 33 largest companies listed on the market.
