The number of trades on SETS, the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book, increased to 3,566,740 in September 2004, up 17 per cent on September 2003.

The value traded on SETS during the month was £77.4 billion, an 11 per cent increase on September last year. Included in these figures were 325,583 SETSmm trades worth £3.4 billion and trades on EUROSETS, the Exchange’s new service for Dutch equities, worth €423 million. The average daily traded value on the SETS order book rose 11 per cent to £3.5 billion on an average of 162,125 trades per day, up 17 per cent.

For the calendar year to date, the number of trades on SETS increased to 29,685,841, up 23 per cent, and the value traded was £659.5 billion, up 25 per cent, on the same period last year.

Overall there were 5.5 million UK and International equity trades across the Exchange in September 2004, an increase of 6 per cent on last September. The value traded also rose 9 per cent to £398.1 billion, up from £364.9 billion in September 2003. For the calendar year to date, the value traded was £3,503 billion, a 33 per cent increase on the same period last year.

On the primary market, there were 31 new issues in September 2004 raising a total of £1.0 billion, compared to 21 in September 2003. There were five IPOs on the main market and 26 new issues on AIM, including 13 IPOs.

There were 22 business days in September 2004, the same number as in September 2003.

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Notes to Editors:

• About the London Stock Exchange:
  The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s foremost 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 the London Stock Exchange’s 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

  An IPO or Initial Public Offering is when a new company joins our market and raises capital by issuing shares. This excludes transfers and introductions (when companies join the 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 -
  www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/products/membershiptrading/retailtradestat
  Figures are available from November 2002 to date.

  
  LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
  MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES

  September 2004	2004		2003
  DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  Equity Trading Value £m	209,990	1,750,764	194,222	1,359,750
  Number of Equity Bargains	4,560,454	39,691,634	4,400,665	33,992,954
  INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
  Equity Trading Value £m	188,061	1,752,256	170,675	1,280,886
  Number of Equity Bargains	959,751	8,608,733	818,125	7,632,440
  ORDER BOOK TRADING
  Order Book Value £m	77,388	659,497	69,443	526,067
  Order Book Bargains	3,566,740	29,685,841	3,056,511	24,139,852
  	September 2004		September 2003
  DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION £bn	1,413		1,261
  TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,765		2,692
  UK List	1,473		1,583
  Foreign	356		391
  AIM	936		718
  techMARK	167		186
  	2004		2003
  MONEY RAISED £m	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
  UK & AIM New Issues	1,002	4,977	67	1,836
  Further, Rights and Other	128	7,383	1,146	4,174
  Bonds Warrants and Fixed	11,208	96,893	12,103	84,990
  International New Issues	-	587	-	100
  Further, Rights and Other	-	180	18	4,848
  Bonds Warrants and Fixed	7,292	72,620	8,580	73,333
  COMPANIES ADMITTED	31	275	21	120

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