What is board lot?Board Lot
The exchange's minimum trading unit. A-shares and Japanese stocks trade in lots of 100 shares, each Hong Kong stock sets its own, a Taiwan lot is 1,000 shares, and US and Korean stocks can be bought from 1 share.
Learn “board lot” in an animated lesson
- China A-Share Rules100-Share Lots and Trading Costs
A-share purchases must be in multiples of 100 shares; every trade pays commission and a transfer fee, sells also pay stamp duty, and minimum commissions make small trades expensive.
- Hong Kong Stock RulesDifferent Lot Sizes and Odd Lots
Each Hong Kong stock sets its own lot size, from 100 shares to several thousand; the minimum cost of one lot is the share price times the lot size.
- Japan Stock RulesShare Units: Buy from 100 Shares
The minimum trading unit for Japanese stocks is 100 shares, so one unit costs share price × 100; holdings of fewer than 100 shares (odd-lot shares) are traded through brokers' dedicated services.
- Korea Stock RulesTick Sizes: The Higher the Price, the Bigger the Tick
The minimum price step for Korean stocks (hoga unit) steps up with the price, from ₩1 to ₩1,000; the trading unit is 1 share, with no lot requirement.
- Taiwan Stock Rules1,000-Share Lots and Odd-Lot Trading
Taiwan stocks normally trade in lots (zhang) of 1,000 shares; if you can't afford a whole lot, you can buy odd lots share by share, but they trade differently and more slowly.
- US Stock RulesBuy from 1 Share, and Fractional Shares
US stocks have no lot requirement, so you can buy just 1 share; many brokers also let you buy fractional shares by dollar amount, so a few dollars can own a slice of an expensive stock.
Related terms
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Go to “100-Share Lots and Trading Costs”