London Stock Exchange Monthly Market Report For September 2003 - Growth In SETS Trades During September

The number of trades on SETS^™, the London Stock Exchange's electronic order book, increased to 3.06 million in September 2003, a 30 per cent increase on the 2.34 million trades in September 2002. The value traded on SETS during the month was £69.4 billion, up from £58.1 billion in September 2002. There were 22 business days in September 2003 compared with 21 in September 2002.

The average daily number of trades on SETS was 138,932, up 24 per cent from 111,612 in September 2002. The average daily value of these trades rose 14 percent, to £3.16 billion in September this year from £2.77 billion in September 2002.

The total number of UK trades on the Exchange increased to 4.40 million in September 2003, up 32 per cent compared with 3.33 million in September 2002. The total number of equity trades was 5.22 million in September 2003, compared with 4.58 million in September 2002, an increase of 14 per cent. The total value of shares traded this September was £364.9 billion, up from £342.2 billion last September.

On the primary market, there were 21 new issues during September 2003, eight of which were IPOs on AIM, raising £66.57 million between them. This compares with 14 new issues, of which three were IPOs, in September 2002.