The over-the-counter stock market plans to create a new index of blue-chip issues in April to attract more investors to the market.
Jasdaq Market Inc., operator of the market, will select around 50 companies from some 930 firms currently listed to be components of the new index.
"We want to spur competition among listed firms by giving a certain status to selected firms," said Jasdaq President Nobuo Kurakazu.
Jasdaq is considering selecting firms whose market capitalization is more than 20 billion yen and whose annual pretax profits are over 1 billion yen, Jasdaq officials said.
The company will formalize selective standards shortly after consulting the Japan Securities Dealers Association, which administers the OTC market, they said.
After the launch of the blue-chip index, Jasdaq hopes to launch futures trading in its index futures and exchange-traded funds that track the index, they added.
Jasdaq is one of three major stock markets in Japan for startups and ventures, along with Mothers at the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Japan at the Osaka Securities Exchange.