Tokyo Stock Exchange to Double Order Processing Capacity Amid Market Boom

The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has decided to double its order processing capacity to keep up with surging trading volumes driven by a booming stock market and an influx of foreign investors, the Nikkei reported.

The TSE’s order processing system, "arrowhead," currently has the capacity to handle 830 million orders per day, and the exchange plans to increase this to approximately 1.5 billion by this November.

According to the newspaper, the daily average number of orders at the TSE this month reached 230 million, a 1.9-fold increase compared to a year ago.

This trend follows the unprecedented rally in the Japanese stock market, as investment funds have flocked to memory semiconductor sectors and semiconductor materials, parts, and equipment companies amid the artificial intelligence (AI) investment frenzy.

The TSE aims to proactively prevent system failures caused by a surge in orders, as the number of domestic and international investors entering the market continues to rise simultaneously.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average, Japan's benchmark index, rose for eight consecutive trading days as of June 22, driven by buying in AI and semiconductor-related stocks, surpassing the 72,000 mark for the first time in history at closing.

After retreating to the 68,000 range the previous day, the Nikkei index closed at 72,366.34 on that day, up 4.61% from the previous trading session.

This marked a record high for the closing price, which analysts attribute to a surge in buying of AI-related stocks following the record-breaking quarterly earnings announcement by U.S. memory chipmaker Micron Technology.

According to the flow of funds statistics (preliminary) for the January–March period released by the Bank of Japan on June 25, the balance of financial assets held by households reached 2,386 trillion yen (approximately 22,800 trillion won) as of the end of March, an increase of 7.1% from a year earlier.

This was interpreted as the result of an increase in household assets, such as stocks and investment trusts, due to rising stock prices.

Among household financial assets, stocks and other equities increased by 28.6% to 398 trillion yen (approximately 3,800 trillion won), while investment trusts rose by 25.7% to 165 trillion yen (approximately 1,600 trillion won).

On the other hand, cash and deposits saw a growth rate of only 0.6%, totaling 1,126 trillion yen (approximately 10,700 trillion won). Household debt increased by 3.0% to 414 trillion yen (approximately 4,000 trillion won) as borrowing grew due to rising housing prices.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.