The Tokyo Stock Exchange is encouraging companies to split their shares to reduce the individual price so Japanese stocks become more affordable.
It now costs on average more than $1,000 to buy 100 shares — the minimum number tradable — in a company on the exchange's Prime Market, which is where blue chips and other large corporations are listed.
Investors can buy odd lots, of a single share or even a fraction of a share, through brokerages, but these arrangements can be costly and inconvenient.
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