The average daily number of UK and international trades on the London Stock Exchange in March 2003 was 227,907 compared with 207,476 in March 2002 (a 10 per cent increase). The total value of UK and international trades in March 2003 was £274 billion, down from £408 billion. There were 21 business days in March 2003 compared with 20 in March 2002

The total number of UK trades in March 2003 was 3.88 million, up 34 per cent from 2.89 million in March 2002. However, the value of UK shares traded decreased by five per cent to £144.7 billion, down from £151.7 billion in March 2002.

In March the number of trades on SETS™, the Exchange’s electronic order book, increased 90 per cent to 2.87 million trades compared with 1.51 million in March 2002. The value traded on SETS increased by 17 per cent to £59.7 billion in 2003, up from £50.9 billion in March 2002.

The average daily number of trades on SETS was 136,440, up from 75,392 in March 2002. SETS achieved a 65.2 per cent share of eligible trades by value in March 2003, compared with 58.4 per cent in March 2002.

Covered warrants, launched by the London Stock Exchange in October 2002, reported record trading in March 2003 of 2,708 trades, 84 per cent higher than February 2003, when there were 1,472 trades. The total value of these trades was £10.12 million. There are now 419 warrants available on the Exchange issued by Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan, SG and TradingLab.

On the primary market there were 8 new issues during March 2003, 3 of which were IPOs, all on AIM. This compares with 9 IPOs in March 2002 – 6 on the Main Market and 3 on AIM.

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Notes to editors:

• About the London Stock Exchange:

  The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s leading equity exchanges and a leading provider of services that facilitate the raising of capital and the trading of shares.

  The London Stock Exchange is the most international equities exchange by trading in the world and Europe's largest pool of liquidity. By the end of 2002, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted to £3.1 trillion, with £4.6 trillion of equity business transacted over the year.

  The London Stock Exchange is a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and is supervised by the Financial Services Authority.

• SETS – the electronic order book.

  It is now five years since the launch of SETS and the service continues to go from strength to strength. Overall, the market is benefiting from tighter spreads, greater liquidity and lower execution costs. Usage of SETS continues to grow, as shown by recent record increases in the number of orders entered, the number of firms using the order book and order book share of business.

  Indices are calculated and managed by FTSE Group, a world-leader in the creation and management of global equity indices. The FTSE Group is jointly owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times, but operates as a wholly autonomous company.

  For information about the company or any FTSE indices, please contact media@ftse.com

  IPO - when a new company joins our market raising money. This excludes transfers and introductions (a company that joins a market without raising money).

  LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
  MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES
  

  	March 2003
  		2003		2002
  	DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  	Equity Trading Value (£m)	144,674	418,218	151,747	450,014
  	Number of Equity Trades	3,879,641	11,222,183	2,886,878	8,445,902
  	INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
  	Equity Trading Value (£m)	128,951	423,439	256,116	744,220
  	Number of Equity Trades	906,416	2,841,652	1,262,636	3,989,503
  	ORDER BOOK TRADING
  	Order Book Value £m	59,731	174,586	50,872	157,823
  	Order Book Trades	2,865,231	8,334,913	1,507,841	4,636,071
  		March 2003		March 2002
  	DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION £bn		1,069		1,563
  	TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,777		2,879
  	UK list	1,662		1,791
  	Foreign	410		447
  	AIM	705		641
  	of which techMARK	205		236
  		2003		2002
  	MONEY RAISED £m	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  	UK & AIM New Issues Equity	10	36	1,154	1,431
  	Further, Rights and Other	215	626	2,428	4,095
  	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	16,875	27,364	8,420	18,889
  	Int. New Issues Equity	-	-	-	-
  	Further, Rights and Other	48	125	2	174
  	Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	6,247	24,128	8,629	19,558
  	COMPANIES ADMITTED	8	26	21	52

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