Toronto Stock Exchange
Based in
Toronto, the
Toronto Stock Exchange, the largest Canadian stock exchange is a subsidiary of TMX Group. A broad range of business entities from Canada, USA, Europe, and other regions trade on the third
largest stock exchange on the North American continent. The exchange lists securities, investment funds, exchange traded funds, income trusts, split share corporations, and other
investment instruments.
The ancestor of the Toronto Stock Exchange is the Association of Brokers, formed in 1852. The establishment of the exchange followed in 1861, at a gathering in the Masonic Hall, but its official incorporation is associated with the 1878 act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. In 1934, the exchange merged with its major competitor on the stock exchange market, the Standard Stock and Mining Exchange. Less liquid equities started to be quoted with the implementation of Computer Assisted Trading System in 1977. The stock exchange was the first one on the North American continent to adopt decimal pricing, substituting the fractional pricing in 1996. The following year, the exchange abandoned its trading floor and adopted an electronic trading system. With the execution of a realignment plan, TSX became the sole Canadian exchange for senior securities. In 2001, the
Toronto Stock Exchange turned into a for-profit organization, with its acronym being changed from TSE to TSX in 2007.
The normal trading hours of the stock exchange are from 09:30 am to 04:00 pm while the post-market session lasts from 04:15 pm to 05:00 pm. The exchange is open on work days, and closed for trading on weekends and during holidays which are declared in advance. The Toronto Stock Exchange has more than 3,800 listed companies and $1.033 billion total market capitalization. The
Big Five Canadian banks are listed on the exchange (
ScotiaBank,
CIBC,
Bank of Montreal,
TD Bank, and
Royal Bank), turning TSX into the banking centre of
Canada. Among the
energy companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange are Canadian Natural Resources, Imperial Oil Ltd, Husky Energy Inc, EnCana Corporation, Canadian Oil Sands Trust, Nexen Inc, Cameco Corporation, etc.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is a leader in the
oil and
gas and
mining sectors, with more miners, and oil and gas producing companies listed than on any other exchange around the world. In May, 2010, the stock exchange saw its first bad day in 3 sessions, due to the weakness of the mining industry. The shares of Teck Resources Ltd., a major producer of copper, dropped in price to $38,80, a decrease of 2.8 percent. Barrick Gold Corporation also marked a fall to $43.34 (a drop of 2.2 percent). Gold registered an increase in price to $2.60 reaching 1,183.30 per barrel in NY. However, the jump was not sufficient to protect the materials sectors of the Toronto Stock Exchange from losses. In addition, the price of copper dropped by 6 cents to $3.29 per pound. On the positive site, the MTY Food Group will start trading its common shares on TSX this year. MTY operates franchises and quick service restaurant facilities on the territory of Canada and in the Middle East. After its listing is transferred from the TSX Venture Exchange, its shares will be traded under the ticker MTY.