Hong Kong's securities market set a number of new records in 2004, with the market turnover amounting to 3.79 trillion HK dollars (485.89 billion US dollars) as at Dec.15, 3.9 billion HK dollars more than the previous recordset in 1997.

According to the Market Statistics 2004 published by the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited (HKEx) Wednesday, the trading values of H shares and derivative warrants as well as the number of newly listed derivative warrants are also at all-time highs.

The trading values of H shares and derivative warrants amountedto 914.2 billion HK dollars and 497.1 billion HK dollars. A total of 1,197 newly listed derivative warrants were recorded.

The HKEx said the amount of market capitalization also reached an all-time high 6.65 trillion HK dollars as at Dec. 2. The figure for the Main Board as at mid-December was 6.5 trillion HK dollars, up 19 percent from the 5.48 trillion HK dollars at end-2003.

Hong Kong's equity funds raised in the first 11 months at 31.7 billion US dollars ranked third when compared with other overseas exchanges. New York topped the list with the amount of equity funds raised at 107.3 billion US dollars, followed by Spain, at 38.5 billion US dollars.

In terms of the market value of shares of domestically listed companies, Hong Kong ranked ninth, with a market value of 847 billion US dollars. New York again ranked first, with a market value of 12.3 trillion US dollars. Nasdaq and Tokyo followed with market values of 3.43 trillion US dollars and 3.38 trillion US dollars.

According to the HKEx, new records were also seen in the derivatives market, with the number of contracts relating to futures and options amounting to 18.73 million as at mid-December,up nearly 29 percent from the previous record. The number of contracts relating to stock options and Hang Seng Index futures stood at 5.4 million and 8.1 million, representing a surge of about 28 percent and 19 percent.

As at mid-December, there were 888 listed companies in the MainBoard and 204 in the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), up 4 percent and 10 percent over end-2003. Among the companies, 45 in the Main Board and 21 in the GEM were newly listed.

The Main Board's total turnover reached 3.77 trillion HK dollars as at mid-December, a surge of 48 percent over end-2003. The average daily turnover was 15.8 billion HK dollars, up 54 percent over the 2003 figure, said the HKEx.

Source: Xinhua