Nearly half (45%) of all trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in January was from retail investors.
TMX Group, operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, said retail investor participation rose to 45% of total equities trading in January of this year, up from 35% a year ago due to the Reddit-fueled trading frenzy.
TMX announced the increase in retail investor activity as it reported 9% growth in adjusted fourth-quarter profit on Monday. Retail investors who follow the popular Reddit forum “WallStreetBets” flocked to some U.S. shares over the past few weeks, driving an unprecedented short-term rally followed by sharp falls.
TMX trading statistics reveal that more than 20 million shares changed hands in January 2021 across various Toronto Stock Exchanges, including the main index, the venture and TSX Alpha. In the same month a year ago, Toronto Stock Exchanges traded 11.3 million shares.
Over the past year shares in TMX, which owns and operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, have climbed only 1.4%, compared to nearly 20% gains in Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and the London Stock Exchange Group.
TMX plans to extend derivatives trading into Asian hours beginning on May 30, but will lengthen it only to 20.5 hours instead of the originally planned 23 hours. The company is hiring 13 new staff members to support the extended Asian trading.
