For the first time in two years, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the leader among global exchanges in terms of the amount raised in initial public offerings (IPO).
Analysts say the main reason is confidence in the United States economy and a willingness by the corporate sector to take risks.
While the US exchanges began closing the gap on the mainland's IPO dominance, mainland exchanges raised more than a third of total capital globally in the first quarter of the year.
The past few weeks saw choppy stock markets spiked by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami disaster, and political unrest in Libya and Egypt which slowed the overall pace of global IPO activity.
According to an update for the first quarter by accounting firm Ernst & Young, global IPO activity saw 290 deals worth US$46.1 billion, down 14 per cent by capital raised compared to the same period last year.
For the first time since 2008, the NYSE took the lead among world exchanges, raising US$13.8 billion (29.8 per cent) of total capital.
This was followed by the US$11.2 billion (24.3 per cent) capital raised on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Singapore was third with US$5.6 billion and Shanghai fourth with US$4.5 billion, or 9.8 per cent of the total capital raised in the first quarter.