OREANDA-NEWS. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited's (HKEx) securities and derivatives markets set several new records this year according to market statistics for 1 January 2014 to 15 December 2014 published today (Friday) by HKEx in response to media requests.

The market capitalisation of HKEx's securities market exceeded \$26 trillion for the first time, reaching its high for the year of \$26.5 trillion on 4 September 2014.  The turnover of Exchange Traded Funds also reached a record high, topping \$1 trillion this year.  Furthermore, the turnover of HKEx’s securitised derivatives (derivative warrants and Callable Bull/Bear Contracts) ranked first in the world for the eighth consecutive year.

In the derivatives market, the trading volume of H-shares Index Options, Mini H-shares Index Futures, HSCEI Dividend Point Index Futures (another H-shares product), Renminbi Currency Futures - USD/CNH Futures* and Flexible H-shares Index Options reached new record highs this year.  In addition, various futures and options contracts reached new record highs in terms of open interest this year.

Here are some additional highlights from the securities market:

1. As of 15 December 2014, there were 1,742 listed companies with a total market capitalisation (Main Board and Growth Enterprise Market) of \$24.6 trillion.
 
2. The total equity funds raised from 1 January 2014 to 15 December 2014 was \$852.9 billion (\$168.4 billion through IPOs and \$684.5 billion from post-IPO fundraising).
 
3. From 1 January 2014 to 15 December 2014, the average daily turnover was \$69.0 billion.

Separately, statistics from the London Metal Exchange (LME), a subsidiary of HKEx, are also available in the market statistics published today.  They include the contract volume, market open interest and global market share of key products.  The total contract volume of nickel set a new record this year, reaching 17,729,356 lots in the first 11 months of the year.  As of 15 December 2014, the LME’s average daily volume was 705,930 lots, up 4.4 per cent from 676,283 lots in 2013.  In terms of the main contracts, the biggest increases through mid-December were for nickel, up 39.6 per cent, and aluminium, up 4.3 per cent.  

* USD: US dollar; CNH: offshore Renminbi.