
Hong Kong Overthrows Japan to Become the World’s Third Largest Stock Market
A rebound in stocks has caused Hong Kong’s stock exchange to usurp Japan as the third largest stock market globally, after the US and China. On Tuesday, the total market cap for Hong Kong’s equity market touched $5.78 trillion, overtaking Japan’s market cap at $5.76 trillion.
The move was triggered after Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose by 17%, its highest close since 15 June, 2018. Behind this remarkable gain was the rise in the value of stocks of Tencent Holdings Ltd., which climbed 22% higher.
On Wednesday, however, both equity markets in Japan and Hong Kong suffered over IMF’s reiteration of a possible slowdown in global economic growth amid rising trade tensions. As a result, the Hang Seng Index has closed 0.15% down, but it remains above the 30,000 level. Japan’s Topix has fallen 0.7% today on account of this news from the IMF.