Like India, other major global markets have witnessed a slowdown in new listings on stock exchanges over the past two years. New listings on the NSE and the BSE were down nearly three-fourths in January-September, 2013, compared with the corresponding period of 2011.

Interestingly, majority of the new companies that listed were small and medium enterprises. In the first nine months of 2013, SMEs accounted for four of the five new companies that listed on the NSE and all but one new listing on the BSE.

A similar trend

A similar situation played out on the New York Stock Exchange, where listing activity in January-September, 2013 was down 40 per cent compared with the corresponding period of 2011.

The economic uncertainty dampened listing of new companies on the Australia Securities Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as well. Both bourses saw fewer companies get listed during the period under review compared with the January-September period of 2011.

The South Korean Exchange also witnessed a marginal dip while Brazil’s Bovespa saw listings fall by nearly half in January-September, 2013, from 2011 levels.

But according to data from the World Federation of Exchanges, the number of companies that got listed on stock exchanges has remained unchanged in some countries in the first nine months of 2013, compared to two years ago, and even rising in some cases.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange saw 19 new companies get listed during the period under review, up 111 per cent, compared with 2011, on the back of a surge in economic activity.

The IT-focused NASDAQ in the US also saw a surge in new listings in January-September, 2013, as a revival in the world’s largest economy prompted a greater number of tech companies — many of them start-ups — to raise funds. The number of companies making their debut on the exchanges doubled in January-September, 2013, compared with the corresponding period of 2011.

Listing activity on the London Stock Exchange during January-September, 2013 remained at the same level as in 2011. However, the Alternative Investment Market segment on the LSE, a platform for listing start-ups, saw a rise in numbers.

> arvind.jayaram@thehindu.co.in

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