The amount of trading on SETS^TM, the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book, continued to increase in March 2004 with a record total number of trades.

During the month there were 3.63 million trades on SETS – up 27 per cent on March 2003 and the highest number of SETS trades in a single month. The value of these trades was £83.3 billion, a 39 per cent increase from the £59.7 billion traded in March last year. Included in these figures were 253,078 SETSmm trades worth £3.36 billion. The average daily number of trades on SETS rose to 158,006, up from 136,440 in March 2003.

In total there were 6.24 million equity trades in March 2004, an increase of 30 per cent on March 2003 and the highest number of trades in a single month. The total value of these trades was £453.1 billion, an increase of 66 per cent on March 2003. The average daily number of trades in March 2004 reached 271,197, an increase of 19 per cent on March 2003. The average daily value of shares traded in March 2004 was £19.7 billion, up 51 per cent from March 2003.

UK equities accounted for 5.1 million trades in March 2004, an increase of 31 per cent on the total of 3.88 million equity trades in March 2003. The total value of UK equities traded in the first three months of 2004 was £647.4 billion, up from £418.2 billion for the same period in 2003.

Trading in covered warrants and ETFs also showed year on year gains. In March 2004, there were 9,047 ETF and 4,882 Covered Warrant trades compared to last March’s totals of 6,005 and 2,708 trades respectively.

On the primary market, there were 39 new issues in March raising £750.92 million between them. Five of these were on the Main Market (four of which were equity IPOs) and 34 on AIM (27 of which were IPOs). This compares with 8 new issues (all on AIM) in March 2003.

There were 23 business days in March 2004, compared with 21 in March 2003.

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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 2003, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted to £3.3 trillion, with £3.6 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 over six years since the launch of SETS and the service continues to go from strength to strength. Overall, the market is benefiting from tighter spreads and greater liquidity. 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).

• SETSmm

SETSmm is the Exchange’s new trading service for FTSE 250 and other leading non order book securities. By combining the best features of the existing SETS and SEAQ trading services, SETSmm appeals to market users who want to trade electronically, as well as those customers who use the market making system.

• Retail Trading Figures

Retail trading figures are available from our website at - http://www.londonstockexchange.com/trading/retailtrade.asp
Figures are available from November 2002 to date.

London Stock Exchange
Monthly Factsheet Figures

	2004		2003
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
Equity Trading Value (£m)	227,000	647,387	144,674	418,218
Number of Equity Trades	5,100,181	14,302,950	3,879,641	11,222,183
INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
Equity Trading Value (£m)	226,063	616,165	128,951	423,439
Number of Equity Trades	1,137,341	2,987,919	906,416	2,841,652
ORDER BOOK TRADING
Order Book Value (£m)	83,268	235,002	59,731	174,586
Order Book Trades	3,634,133	10,125,719	2,865,231	8,334,913

	March 2004	February 2003
DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)	1,373	1,069
TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES	2,693	2,777
UK list	1,530	1,662
Foreign	371	410
AIM	792	705
of which techMARK	177	205

	2004		2003
MONEY RAISED (£m)	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
UK & AIM New Issues Equity	751	897	10	36
Further, Rights and Other	1,125	2,359	215	626
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	23,148	44,197	16,875	27,364
Int. New Issues Equity	19	19	-	-
Further, Rights and Other	17	109	48	125
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest	8,846	25,380	6,247	24,128
COMPANIES ADMITTED	39	61	8	26

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