The Helsinki Stock Exchange is located in Helsinki, Finland and is now part of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. It saw its first transaction in 1912 and uses an electronic trading system. Over time, it merged with other Finnish exchanges and clearing houses. The main stock index is the OMX Helsinki 25, which tracks the 25 most traded companies on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. Trading hours are from 10:00am to 6:30pm from Monday to Friday.

1. STOCK MARKET IN FINLAND
By: Mahima Minocha
774

2. STOCK MARKET
• A stock market or exchange is the center of a
network of transactions where securities buyers
meet sellers at a certain price. A stock market or
exchange is not necessary a physical facility and
with the advancement of information technology
are increasingly rare those traders that exchange
their stocks in the floor of a major stock exchange.

3. • The main stock market in the United States is New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In Europe, examples of
stock exchanges include the London Stock
Exchange, the Paris Bourse, and the Deutsche
Bourse. In Asia, the main stock exchanges include
the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange, and the Bombay Stock Exchange. In Latin
America, there are such exchanges as the BOVESPA
in Brazil and the MERVAL in Argentina.

4. • The Helsinki Stock
Exchange (Finnish: Helsingin
Pörssi, Swedish: Helsingforsbörsen) is a stock
exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3
September 2003 it has been part
of OMX, referred to as OMX Helsinki (OMXH).
• Since NASDAQ's acquisition of OMX in
February 2008, the official name of the
Helsinki exchange has been NASDAQ OMX
Helsinki.

5. HISTORY
• The Helsinki Stock Exchange saw its first transaction
on October 7, 1912. From then it remained a "free
form" financial association until in 1984 it was
converted into a cooperative owned mostly by
banks, traders, other companies and associations.

6. • On April 1, 1990, trading was moved to a new
digital system: HETI (Helsinki Stock Exchange
Automated Trading and Information System, and in
Finnish a rough backronym for
"immediately"), which replaced the electro-
mechanical trading board originally introduced back
in 1935. HETI enabled remote traders to do
transactions on equal terms with those in
the trading room.

7. • The cooperative changed to a limited liability
company (Helsingin Arvopaperipörssi) in the fall of
1995 and merged with several clearing and stock
deposit companies and associations at the
beginning of 1997. During 1997 and 1998 the Stock
Exchange bought both of the Finnish derivative
exchanges and merged them with itself to
become HEX. In November 1998 HEX merged with
Arvopaperikeskus to form Helsinki Exchanges Group
Plc, which then changed its name to HEX Plc in the
spring of 2001. In 2001 and 2002 HEX acquired a
majority share of the Tallinn Stock Exchange and the
Riga Stock Exchange.

8. • On 3 September 2003, HEX Plc merged with OM
AB, owner of the Stockholm Stock Exchange, to
become OM HEX. A year later, the company was
renamed to OMX.
• OMX Helsinki 25 (OMXH25) is a stock market
index for the Helsinki Stock Exchange. It is a market
value weighted index that consists of the 25 most-
traded stock classes. OMXH25 is also known by its
old name, HEX25. As of March 2006, there are
two exchange-traded funds listed, both are index
funds for the OMXH25 index.

9. • In April 2006, the Stock Exchange announced the
trading will be done in round lot sizes of one share
starting from September 25, 2006. Previously
trading was done in round lot sizes that varied from
listed company to company.

10. HOURS
• Normal trading sessions are from 10:00am to
6:30pm on all days of the week except
Saturdays, Sundays and holidays declared by
the Exchange in advance

11. TRADING RULES
• A special feature of Helsinki Exchange is that limit
orders are not allowed to cross over. For an
effective market order, the unfilled portion of the
order becomes a limit order stays at the execution
price.

12. CURRENT POSITION
• Stocks in Finland had a negative performance
during the last month. Finland Stock Market
(HEX25), declined 0 points or 0.00 percent during
the last 30 days. From 1995 until 2013, Finland
Stock Market (HEX25) averaged 6732 Index points
reaching an all time high of 18304 Index points in
May of 2000 and a record low of 1554 Index points
in March of 1995.

13. • The OMX Helsinki 25 Index is a major stock market
index which tracks the performance of 25 most
traded companies on the Helsinki Stock Exchange's
Main List. It is a market value weighted; free float
adjusted and capped price index (each company in
the index is limited to a weight of 10%). The OMX
Helsinki 25 Index has a base value of 500 as of
March 4, 1988.

15. THANK
YOU
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