Central Asia’s six stock exchanges have been experiencing something of a boom, according to Kazakh media outlet Kursiv.

Trading has been driven by the covid rebound and the increasing importance of the five ‘stans’ as manufacturing and transit economies due to sanctions imposed on Russia’s economy by the West, the publication said.

The total capitalisation of the companies traded on Central Asia’s stock exchanges now exceeds $100bn, it pointed out.

Kursiv also gave the following information on the bourses:

Kazakhstan Stock Exhange (KASE): Established in 1993 as an interbank currency exchange, it has 85 issuers. The share market has a capitalisation of KZT 22.3 trillion ($49.8bn). The KASE Index, up 9% over the past 12 months, is calculated on the basis of nine securities. Its capitalisation is estimated as KZT 19.3 trillion ($42.9bn), which corresponds to 86% of the entire stock market.

Astana International Exchange (AIX): It was established in 2017 as part of the formation of Kazakhstan’s Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). At the end of March, the capitalisation of AIX-listed companies, taking into account all sites where their securities are listed, amounted to $45.2bn. AIX lists 23 stocks from 21 issuers and five global depositary receipts (GDRs). Based on nine issuers of equity securities traded on the AIX, KASE and London Stock Exchange, the AIX Qazaq Index or AIXQI is calculated from 2021. Over the past 12 months, the index rose by 2.1%. The capitalisation of the AIXQI companies, including listings on all exchanges, at the end of March was $39.1bn, or 86.5% of the total capitalisation of the exchange.

Toshkent Republican Stock Exchange: As of March 31, 112 issuers had securities on the quotation list of the Uzbek exchange, established in 1994. They included 108 issuers of shares. The total market capitalisation of issuers on the exchange quotation list was UZS 126.1 trillion ($11bn). The exchange’s UCI index is based on all listed stocks, with stocks weighted by the market capitalisation of their companies. In the past 12 months the UCI has dipped twice.

Kyrgyz Stock Exchange (KSE): Founded in 1994 as a non-governmental non-profit entity. The first trading in shares and official opening of the stock exchange took place in May 1995. As of April 17, the market capitalisation of companies listed on the KSE amounted to KGS 88.05bn (about $1bn). The KSE index, showing the degree of change in the exchange’s capitalisation, was up 68% y/y. The index is calculated on the basis of market prices for the shares of all the listed companies. A total of 27 shares from 24 issuers are traded on the KSE. The 10 largest cover around 94% of the capitalisation.

Central Asian Stock Exchange (CASE), Tajikistan: Established in April 2015 as a platform for organised securities trading in the country. British company GMEX Group is one of the shareholders in CASE. In Tajikistan, securities transactions are mainly carried out between banks, with transactions involving either securities of the central bank or treasury bills of the finance ministry. There are no quoted shares and government securities on the official website of CASE, and only one position in the list of bonds, showing bonds of Eskhata Bank. It is thus not possible to outline the volume of the market as a whole.

Ashgabat Stock Exchange: Turkmenistan's exchange was established in 2016. Currently, securities of three second-tier banks circulate on the bourse. The exchange website says the market capitalisation amounts to $160mn.