Nasdaq is expanding its digital footprint by establishing a new Point of Presence (Nasdaq POP) in Hong Kong that will provide a direct route to data from the US financial markets.

The new POP in China’s special administrative region will be available for market participants seeking access to efficient, cost-effective connectivity to Nasdaq financial data, the company said in a release.

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The network expansion is aimed at bolstering the operator’s trans-Pacific proposition and helping the company stay ahead of growth in demand for market data and trading applications. The Hong Kong facilities will establish connectivity to three data centers.

Housed in HK1 Equinix, Mega-i, and HKEx, Nasdaq’s POP will provide clients with easy access to APAC financial web portals, real-time US equity and index/ETF information from a local center already located in the region.

The new Nasdaq POPs allow customers to access the markets, send orders, and receive market data for all US-listed equities via Nasdaq Basic product.

Nasdaq says there are cost savings and high-performance advantages for Asia Pacific investors that use its Hong Kong PoP to cross-connect with Nasdaq markets and other services in the region. This is combined with the added benefit of unlimited distribution to the general investing public.

“It also makes available Nasdaq Global Index Services (GIDS), which disseminates real-time values for 40,000+ Nasdaq indexes, including such well known indexes as the Nasdaq 100, Nasdaq Composite, and Nasdaq Biotech,” the company further states in its statement.

Tomas Franczyk, a Hong Kong-based director at Nasdaq’s Global Information Services, commented: “Nasdaq prides itself on being the premier provider of cutting-edge products to the world’s most forward-thinking investors,” said. “With closer proximity to the centers that supply market data to investors, Nasdaq will be able to deliver faster service to Hong Kong, China, and the entire Asia-Pacific region.”