London Stock Exchange Monthly Market Report For October 2003 - SETS Trades Continue To Grow

The number of trades on SETS^™, the London Stock Exchange's electronic order book, increased to 3.27 million in October 2003, a rise of 23 per cent on the number of trades in October 2002. The value traded on SETS during the month was £73.0 billion, up from £62.2 billion in October 2002. The average daily number of trades on SETS was 142,278, up from 116,144 in October 2002.

The total number of equity trades on the Exchange was 5.38 million in October 2003, up one per cent on October 2002, when there was a total of 5.34 million equity trades. The total value of shares traded this October was £375 billion, down from £387 billion in October 2002.

October saw the strongest month yet in trading of Covered Warrants, with 3,705 trades worth £21.7 million transacted.

On the primary market, there were 21 new issues during October 2003, ten of which were IPOs: two on the UK main market, one on the international market and seven on AIM, raising £1.04 billion between them. This compares with 18 new issues, of which 5 were IPOs, in October 2002.