Market report - February

London Stock Exchange Plc
09 March 2004


MONTHLY MARKET REPORT                                9 March 2004
FOR FEBRUARY 2004                                    MR32 - 02.04


                           TRADING ROBUST IN FEBRUARY

Trading on the London Stock Exchange was robust in February 2004 with year on
year increases across its markets.

The value traded on SETS, the Exchange's electronic order book, during February
2004 was £76.3 billion.  This was the highest amount ever traded on SETS in a
single month and represented a 45 per cent increase from the £52.7 billion
traded in February last year.  There were 3.12 million trades on SETS in
February 2004 - up 20 per cent on February 2003.  Included in these figures were
206,875 SETSmm trades worth £2.8 billion.  The average daily number of trades on
SETS rose to 156,032 from 129,598.

There were 4.44 million UK equity trades on the Exchange in February 2004, an
increase of 29 per cent on the total of 3.44 million equity trades in February
2003.  The total value of UK shares traded this year was £210.6 billion, up from
£124.8 billion in February 2003.

Trading in covered warrants and ETFs also showed year on year gains.  In
February 2004, there were 8,032 ETF and 4,654 covered warrant trades compared to
last February's totals of 4,972 and 1,472 trades respectively.

The number of trades on EDX London increased again in February 2004, with 3.1
million contracts traded.  This was 44 per cent up on the previous high in
January 2004.

On the primary market, there were 11 new issues in February raising £61.59
million between them.  Two of these were on the Main Market (one of which was an
IPO) and nine on AIM (four of which were IPOs).   This compares with four new
issues (one on the Main Market and three on AIM) in February 2003.

There were 20 business days in February 2004, which was the same number as in
February 2003.

                                    - ends -



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Notes to editors:

•          About the London Stock Exchange:

The London Stock Exchange is one of the world's leading 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 its 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
[e-mail]

IPO - when a new company joins our market raising money.  This excludes
transfers and introductions (a company that joins a 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 - http://
www.londonstockexchange.com/trading/retailtrade.asp

Figures are available from November 2002 to date.


LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE
MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES


February 2004


                                                    2004                             2003
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING                        Month    Year to date            Month    Year to date

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    210,638         420,387          124,833         273,545
Number of Equity Trades                    4,439,050       9,202,769        3,435,325       7,342,542


INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    179,857         390,102          117,342         294,488
Number of Equity Trades                      882,496       1,850,578          778,787       1,935,236


ORDER BOOK TRADING

Order Book Value (£m)                            76,303         151,734           52,707         114,854
Order Book Trades                             3,120,646       6,491,586        2,591,959       5,469,682



                                                       February 2004            February 2003

DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)                                  1,402                       1,076

TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES                                             2,673                       2,804
UK list                                                1,539                    1,689
Foreign                                                373                      412
AIM                                                    761                      703
of which techMARK                                      176                      207


                                                     2004                            2003
MONEY RAISED (£m)                               Month    Year to date          Month    Year to date

UK & AIM New Issues Equity                         62             146              0              26
Further, Rights and Other                         246           1,234            242             411
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 4,441          21,050          4,809          10,489
Int. New Issues Equity                              -               -              -               -
Further, Rights and Other                           -              91             77              77
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 7,948          16,533          8,816          17,880


COMPANIES ADMITTED                                 11              22              4              18





                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange