Nasdaq has suffered a setback in its plans to become an international exchange offering 24/7 trading. Nasdaq Japan is closing its operations and the president of the Nasdaq stock market says it plans to give more of its attention to Europe. However, market participants are doubtful that the exchange will have much success there either.
Nasdaq cites poor economic and market conditions for the closure of Nasdaq Japan. The business was predicated around attracting IPOs, and Nasdaq's 30% of the IPO marketplace in Japan was obviously not enough to sustain the business. Efforts to implement Nasdaq's hybrid platform in Japan were also unsuccessful because the Osaka stock exchange failed to approve it.
It seems there will be little short-term impact on companies listed on Nasdaq Japan as they are physically listed on the Osaka stock exchange and Nasdaq will allow the exchange to continue to use its brand until the end of the year.
Nasdaq has not had much success in Europe either. Since acquiring Easdaq in 2001 to form Nasdaq Europe the exchange has been unable to attract much business. There are currently 43 companies listed on Nasdaq Europe, compared with 98 on Nasdaq Japan, and the most recent company to list did so in October 2000 on Easdaq.