The owner of the Australian Securities Exchange, ASX Limited (ASX:ASX), will lose its monopoly in Australia today when rival trading platform Chi-X opens for trading.
Chi-X Australia is a subsidiary of Chi-X Global Inc owned by a subsidiary of Japanese investment bank Nomura Holdings.
The soft launch period will see trading in eight securities this week including BHP Billiton Limited (ASX:BHP), Leighton Holdings Limited (ASX:LEI), Origin Energy Limited (ASX:ORG), QBE Insurance Group Limited (ASX:QBE) and Woolworths Limited (ASX:WOW).
Reports emerged last month that Chi-X plans to undercut ASX's standard trading fee by about 40 per cent.
The launch comes less than one week after ASX was hit with a technical glitch that froze four hours of trade.
In the 2011 financial year ASX posted a net profit of $352 million.
ASX Price at posting:
$30.01 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)