The Nasdaq Stock Market, known as Nasdaq, is the second-largest stock exchange in the world for investors wishing to purchase and sell shares of stock. The National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, or NASDAQ, is what Nasdaq was originally known as. It began operating on February 8th, 1971, and offered automated stock price data for investors to use when trading equities on other exchanges.
At some point, the Nasdaq became the first electronic stock market in the world, taking over trading for numerous equities that had previously traded outside of authorized stock exchanges. In order to list their shares on the Nasdaq stock exchange, corporations must must comply with rigorous listing standards. The Nasdaq has grown to be the biggest exchange in the world that only uses electronic trading.
Over 3,000 firms list their shares on the Nasdaq, including many of the biggest corporations in the world. Many of the top technology businesses in the world, as well as those from other cutting-edge areas like biotechnology, have drawn to the stock exchange, in part due to the Nasdaq's support of technical innovation in its trading platform.
The Nasdaq was created to offer an electronic alternative to the current setup of stock exchanges, which included having live traders on a trading floor to gather and execute orders to buy and sell shares of stock. However, investors weren't originally able to actively trade any equities on the Nasdaq. It provided the most recent pricing for stock deals made elsewhere instead by using an automated information-gathering mechanism.
After that, the Nasdaq expanded its stock trading activities to include equities that weren't traded on the New York Stock Exchange or other well-established stock exchanges. The Nasdaq started off focusing on these equities, sometimes known as over-the-counter stocks, and some investors now refer to the Nasdaq as an over-the-counter market.
The Nasdaq has developed automated trading systems as technology has improved that not only match orders from buyers and sellers but also offer the summary statistics and reporting necessary for all stock exchanges. When the internet first emerged, Nasdaq was the first stock exchange with a website and the first to permit online trading. Nasdaq has adopted cloud computing as well, storing data and necessary regulatory documents utilizing cloud-based technologies.