New Zealand’s Exchange

New Zealand Exchange started way back during the 1870s gold rush as a smaller number of regional stock exchanges. This history is tied up with the Dunedin Brokers’ Association, which launched in 1867, followed by Otago in 1868, Auckland in the early 1870s, and Wellington in 1882.

In 1915, Auckland, Christchurch, Thames, Wellington, and Dunedin came together to form the Stock Association of New Zealand, with Taranaki joining the Association in 1916. Over time, more towns joined and merged, and then in 1974, all regional exchanges formed the New Zealand Exchange. It wasn’t until 1991 that a computerised trading system was introduced, which was replaced again in 1999 for an even faster system.

In December 2002, the New Zealand Exchange became a limited liability company after a policy demutualisaion was adopted. By June 2003, it listed its securities on the leading equity market. The New Zealand Exchange made some rural sector deals in 2009, from publications businesses to the Clear Grain Exchange based in Melbourne.

Today, in addition to being a stock exchange, the NZX is the market operator for the electricity market for the whole of New Zealand, and for Fonterra, which contracts Fonterra Shareholders’ Market. As of 1st July 2020, the New Zealand Exchange has 178 listed securities – adding up to a combined market capitalisation of NZD$162.4 billion.

The leading index of the New Zealand Exchange is the NZX 50 Index.

The NZX 50 is made up of the fifty most significant stocks identified by free-float market capitalisation. This is calculated excluding blocks of shares that are bigger than 20%, and the index was introduced in 2003. It replaced the NZSE 40 Index as the main index, which was later renamed as the NZX 50.