New Record For Number Of Trades Across London Stock Exchange Group - Fall In Index Levels Impacts Value Traded

The total number of trades on the equity order books of London Stock Exchange Group reached a record 29.6 million in October, up 55 per cent compared with October 2007. Year on year falls of 35 and 46 per cent in the average value of the FTSE 100 and MIB indices impacted the value traded on the Group’s equity order books, which was down 18 per cent to £246.1 billion (€312.8 billion).

The average daily number of trades during the month reached 1.3 million, and the average daily value traded was £10.7 billion (€13.6 billion).

UK Order Book

The total number of trades on the UK order book during the month was a record 21.4 million, an increase of 68 per cent on October last year. An increase in the velocity of trading meant that the value traded declined only four per cent to £172.8 billion (€219.6 billion), significantly less than 35 per cent drop in the average level of the FTSE 100 this October compared to last.

The average daily number of trades during the month was a record 929,970 and the average daily value traded was £7.5 billion (€9.5 billion).

Italian Order Book

On the Italian equity order book, the total number of trades during the month reached its second highest level, up 23 per cent to 7.0 million trades. The 46 per cent decline in the average value of the MIB index compared with October 2007 was reflected in a 50 per cent decrease in value traded to €72.9 billion (£57.3 billion).

The average daily number of trades during the month was 303,451, and the average daily value traded was €3.2 billion (£2.5 billion).

International Order Book

The number of trades on the Group’s international order books was up 74 per cent on October last year at 1.3 million, and only slightly below September’s record levels. The total value traded on the Group’s international order books was down 10 per cent on the previous October to £16.0 billion (€20.3 billion).

ETFs and ETCs

It was a record month for trading in ETFs and ETCs across the Group; the total value traded was more than double the total for October last year, up 110 per cent to £7.4 billion (€ 9.4 billion). The total number of trades was also a record, up five per cent to 217,208.

Derivatives

There were 9.2 million contracts traded across the Group’s derivatives markets, EDX London and IDEM, representing an increase of 17 per cent on October last year. The notional value traded increased 13 per cent to £130.2 billion (€165.4 billion).

On IDEM, there was record trading in MiniFutures standard contracts with a total 427,798 contracts traded during the month, and it was the busiest month since April 1998 for stock index options with 429,237 contracts traded. Across all products on IDEM, open interest at the end of the month stood at a record 4,291,451 contracts.

Additional Information:

This release uses only electronic trading data; trades that are reported to the either London Stock Exchange or Borsa Italiana under their rules but executed away from their electronic order books are not included.

There were 23 trading days in October 2008, the same number as in October 2007.

During October, the average daily number of trades on SETS – covering all equity based order book trading on the London Stock Exchange – was 968,374, up 69 per cent on October 2007.  The average daily value traded on SETS was £8.2 billion, a decrease of three per cent year on year.

Primary market data for October will be available on the websites of London Stock Exchange and Borsa Italiana later in the month.

The October 2008 value traded figures use a €:£ exchange rate of 1.2708. The exchange rate used for October 2007 was 1.4341.