Primary equities markets

Australian Stock Exchange

The ASX Group's origins as a national exchange go back to 1987. The Australian Stock Exchange Limited was formed in 1987 after the Australian Parliament drafted legislation that enabled the amalgamation of six independent state-based stock exchanges. Each of those exchanges brought with it a history of share trading dating back to the 19th century.

 

In 2006 The Australian Stock Exchange merged with the Sydney Futures Exchange and originally operated under the name Australian Securities Exchange. Later, however, ASX launched a new group structure to better position it in the contemporary financial market environment. From 1 August 2010 the Australian Securities Exchange has been known as the ASX Group.

 

Primary equity indexes

All Ordinaries

Established in January 1980, the All Ordinaries is the oldest stock index in Australia, so called because it contains nearly all ordinary (or common) shares listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). The market capitalization of the companies included in the index amounts to over 95 percent of the value of all shares listed on the ASX.

 

 

The All Ordinaries was up 14.8 percent in 2013 after climbing 13.5 percent in 2012. In 2014, the index was up 0.7 percent. In January 2015, the All Ordinaries increased 3.0 percent as investors anticipated that the RBA would lower its key cash rate when it met on February 3. The index continued to climb, increasing 6.25 percent in February after the RBA did lower its key interest rate. The index sagged in March, declining 0.6 percent. The index sagged 1.5 percent in April but was virtually unchanged in May. It sagged again with other world equity markets in June on tumbling stock prices in China along with the situation with Greece. The index lost 5.6 percent.