• Increase of 76 per cent on last March

The average daily number of trades on SETS, the London Stock Exchange’s electronic order book, exceeded half a million for the first time during March 2007, reaching 508,425. This was an increase of 76 per cent on March last year and reflects the fact that fourteen of the twenty busiest trading days recorded on SETS took place during the month.

The average daily value traded on SETS during the month also grew strongly, up 44 per cent on the same month last year to £8.8 billion. The total value traded on SETS during the month was £193.5 billion, with a total 11.2 million trades.

It was also a record month on SETSmm. The number of trades on SETSmm more than doubled compared with March last year, up 115 per cent to 2.8 million. The total value traded grew 93 per cent to £20.4 billion.

Trading on the IOB also set new records for both the number of trades and the value traded. The number of trades was up 70 per cent on March last year to 91,273, and value traded during the month grew 58 per cent to £7.8 billion.

The average daily number of UK equity trades was 560,005, up 61 per cent on last year. Meanwhile, the average daily value traded in UK equity grew 24 per cent to £17.6 billion.

ETF trading was also extremely strong. The average daily value traded in ETFs was, at £131.1 million, over double the figure for March last year. The average daily number of trades also reached record levels, increasing 60 per cent to 1,869 trades.

There were 11 IPOs on the Main Market during March, which raised £3.6 billion between them. This included two IPOs from international companies, raising £1.3 billion. AIM attracted 16 IPOs during the month raising a total of £362.2 million between them.

RNS had a record month during March, disseminating a total of 20,058 company announcements. This was an increase of 21 per cent on March last year and represented 76 per cent of all announcements made in the UK market. Of these, 6,012 were news and results announcements.

There were 22 trading days during March, one fewer than during March 2006.

For further information, please contact:

Notes to editors:

• About the London Stock Exchange
  
  The London Stock Exchange is the world’s premier international equity exchange 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 in the world and Europe's largest pool of liquidity. By the end of 2006, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on the London Stock Exchange’s markets amounted to £4.4 trillion, with £6.7 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.
  
  Companies considering flotation have a choice of markets:
  
  AIM
  
  AIM is the London Stock Exchange’s international market specifically designed for smaller, growing companies, combining the benefits of a public flotation with appropriate levels of regulation.
  

  Main Market
  
  The London Stock Exchange’s Main Market for established companies seeking international recognition is one of the world’s best known, longest-established and most liquid markets. It is home to some of the world’s largest and most successful companies, giving them access to one of the deepest pools of capital in the world.
  

  Professional Securities Market
  
  The Professional Securities Market was established in July 2005, to coincide with the introduction of the FSA's new Listing Rules. PSM provides a solution for those issuers seeking to list securities in London without having to re-state their financial information to IFRS or follow the additional requirements of an offering to retail investors. Debt securities or depository receipts of any denomination may be listed on PSM on production of a prospectus aimed at a wholesale or professional audience.



• IPO
  
  An IPO or Initial Public Offering is when a new company joins one of our markets and raises capital by issuing shares. This excludes transfers and introductions (when companies join the market without raising money).


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


• SETS – the electronic order book
  
  It is over eight years since the launch of SETS and the order book continues to go from strength to strength, compressing spreads and significantly improving liquidity. SETS has recently delivered record increases in the number of orders entered and executed as new technology improves efficiency and fuels growth.


• SETSmm
  
  SETSmm is the Exchange’s 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.


• International Order Book (IOB)
  
  The IOB is the Exchange's order book for the trading of international Depositary Receipts, negotiable certificates which represent ownership of a given number of a company’s shares and can be listed and traded independently from the underlying shares.


• 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.

MARCH 2007

	2007			2006
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date		Month	Year to date
Equity Trading Value (£m)	387,693	1,030,716		327,432	860,350
Number of Equity Trades	12,320,099	31,452,924		7,981,848	20,966,189
INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
Equity Trading Value (£m)	456,219	1,208,502		341,378	939,042
Number of Equity Trades	3,482,925	8,829,444		1,982,032	5,775,385

ORDER BOOK TRADING
Order Book Value (£m)	193,540	499,190		140,995	375,134
Order Book Trades	11,185,345	28,194,193		6,655,727	17,406,209

	March 2007		March 2006
DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)	2,064		1,947
TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES	3,245		3,141
Main Market UK	1,262		1,336
Main Market International	319		324
of which techMARK	130		145
AIM	1,637		1,473
Professional Securities Market (Equity only)	27		8

	2007		2006
MONEY RAISED (£m)	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
Equity Money Raised:
New issues: Main Market UK	2,331	2,331	589	1,122
New issues: Main Market International	1,260	2,389	250	2,400
New issues: AIM	408	1,124	1,649	2,052
Further issues: Main Market UK	1,117	2,322	549	1,042
Further issues: Main Market International	-	456	39	329
Further issues: AIM	976	1,690	369	1,178
PSM (new & further, UK & International)	-	-	424	527
COMPANIES ADMITTED	33	73	75	148
Debt Money Raised (£m)
Main Market UK	22,491	40,120	16,520	36,487
Main Market International	30,284	76,957	20,864	45,640
PSM (UK & International)	2,835	4,428	2,592	5,981

Back to the main press releases branch