Market Report - March 2003

London Stock Exchange Plc
08 April 2003


8 April 2003


MONTHLY MARKET REPORT FOR MARCH 2003

           NUMBER OF TRADES ON SETS UP 90 PER CENT ON MARCH 2002

The average daily number of UK and international trades on the London Stock
Exchange in March 2003 was 227,907 compared with 207,476 in March 2002 (a 10 per
cent increase).  The total value of UK and international trades in March 2003
was £274 billion, down from £408 billion.  There were 21 business days in March
2003 compared with 20 in March 2002

The total number of UK trades in March 2003 was 3.88 million, up 34 per cent
from 2.89 million in March 2002.  However, the value of UK shares traded
decreased by five per cent to £144.7 billion, down from £151.7 billion in March
2002.

In March the number of trades on SETS, the Exchange's electronic order book,
increased 90 per cent to 2.87 million trades compared with 1.51 million in March
2002.  The value traded on SETS increased by 17 per cent to £59.7 billion in
2003, up from £50.9 billion in March 2002.

The average daily number of trades on SETS was 136,440, up from 75,392 in March
2002.  SETS achieved a 65.2 per cent share of eligible trades by value in March
2003, compared with 58.4 per cent in March 2002.

Covered warrants, launched by the London Stock Exchange in October 2002,
reported record trading in March 2003 of 2,708 trades, 84 per cent higher than
February 2003, when there were 1,472 trades.  The total value of these trades
was £10.12 million.  There are now 419 warrants available on the Exchange issued
by Goldman Sachs International, JP Morgan, SG and TradingLab.

On the primary market there were 8 new issues during March 2003, 3 of which were
IPOs, all on AIM.  This compares with 9 IPOs in March 2002 - 6 on the Main
Market and 3 on AIM.

                                    - Ends -

For further information, please contact:

Tiffany Hardie-Evans                        Press Office   [phone]


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 2002, the
market capitalisation of UK and international companies on its markets amounted
to £3.1 trillion, with £4.6 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 now five 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.

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 2003


                                                    2003                             2002
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING                        Month    Year to date            Month    Year to date

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    144,674         418,218          151,747         450,014
Number of Equity Trades                    3,879,641      11,222,183        2,886,878       8,445,902


INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    128,951         423,439          256,116         744,220
Number of Equity Trades                      906,416       2,841,652        1,262,636       3,989,503


ORDER BOOK TRADING

Order Book Value £m                           59,731         174,586           50,872         157,823
Order Book Trades                          2,865,231       8,334,913        1,507,841       4,636,071


                                                       March 2003               March 2002

DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION £bn                                    1,069                       1,563

TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES                                             2,777                       2,879
UK list                                                1,662                    1,791
Foreign                                                410                      447
AIM                                                    705                      641
of which techMARK                                      205                      236




                                                       2003                            2002
MONEY RAISED £m                                 Month    Year to date          Month    Year to date


UK & AIM New Issues Equity                         10              36          1,154           1,431
Further, Rights and Other                         215             626          2,428           4,095
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                16,875          27,364          8,420          18,889
Int. New Issues Equity                              -               -              -               -
Further, Rights and Other                          48             125              2             174
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 6,247          24,128          8,629          19,558


COMPANIES ADMITTED                                  8              26             21              52

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