Market Report - Mar 2002

London Stock Exchange Plc
8 April 2002



MONTHLY MARKET REPORT FOR MARCH 2002


- NUMBER OF UK TRADES UP 6% ON MARCH 2001

- AVERAGE DAILY TRADING UP 7% ON MARCH 2001


The number of UK trades on the London Stock Exchange continued to rise in March,
with a 6 per cent increase to 2.9 million trades, compared with 2.7 million
trades in the same month in 2001.  There were 20 trading days in March 2002,
compared with 22 in March 2001.


-         The average number of daily trades in UK and international shares rose
          by 7 per cent from 193,536 in March 2001 to 207,476 in March 2002.

-         53.9 billion UK shares were traded in March, up from 51.7 billion in
          March 2001.  This represented an increase of 4 per cent year on year.


The number of trades on SETS, the Exchange's electronic order book, rose to 1.5
million in March compared with 1.1 million in March 2001.  Year on year, this
represented a 36 per cent increase.


There were 21 new issues during March 2002, 9 of which were IPOs.   The IPOs
were split between AIM (3) and the main market (6), raising £1.1 billion between
them.


For further information, please contact:


Tiffany Hardie-Evans                        Press Office   [phone]

[e-mail]





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 2001, the
market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted
to £4.1 trillion, with over £5.6 trillion of 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 now over four years since the launch of SETS and the service continues to
go from strength to strength. Overall, the market is benefiting from tighter
spreads, greater liquidity and lower execution costs. 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. For more
information see our publication: "SETS - four years on" available at
www.londonstockexchange.com/trading/pdfs/sets4years.pdf




•           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).





LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE


MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES


March 2002

                                                       2002                              2001
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING                         Month    Year to date             Month    Year to date

Equity Trading Value (£m)                     151,747         450,014           182,259         549,270
Number of Equity Trades                     2,886,878       8,445,902         2,725,150       7,899,851


INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING

Equity Trading Value (£m)                     256,116         744,220           378,728       1,066,859
Number of Equity Trades                     1,262,636       3,989,503         1,532,637       4,039,650


                                                             March 2002                   March 2001

DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION £bn                                       1,563                        1,644

TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES                                                2,879                        2,922
UK list                                                  1,791                     1,881
Foreign                                                  447                       491
AIM                                                      641                       550
of which techMARK                                        236                       244




                                                          2002                             2001
MONEY RAISED £m                                   Month    Year to date           Month    Year to date

UK & AIM New Issues Equity                        1,154           1,431             345             520
Further, Rights and Other                         2,428           4,095             372           1,052
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                   8,420          18,889           5,612          18,121
Int. New Issues Equity                                -               -             132           3,222
Further, Rights and Other                             2             174           1,101           1,218
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                   8,629          19,558           5,650          20,472


COMPANIES ADMITTED                                   21              52              27              67




INDICES PERFORMANCE                              Month Close        Mvt in Month           Mvt in Year
FTSE100                                              5,271.8                 +3%                   +1%
FTSE All Share                                       2,557.4                 +4%                   +1%
FTSE techMARK 100                                    1,200.0                  0%                  -19%
FTSE AIM                                               841.2                  0%                   -6%





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