Market Report - March 2004

London Stock Exchange Plc
08 April 2004


MONTHLY MARKET REPORT                        8 April 2004

FOR MARCH 2004                               MR33 - 03.04




                      RECORD SETS TRADING VOLUMES IN MARCH



The amount of trading on SETSTM, the London Stock Exchange's electronic order
book, continued to increase in March 2004 with a record total number of trades.



During the month there were 3.63 million trades on SETS - up 27 per cent on
March 2003 and the highest number of SETS trades in a single month.  The value
of these trades was £83.3 billion, a 39 per cent increase from the £59.7 billion
traded in March last year.  Included in these figures were 253,078 SETSmm trades
worth £3.36 billion.  The average daily number of trades on SETS rose to
158,006, up from 136,440 in March 2003.



In total there were 6.24 million equity trades in March 2004, an increase of 30
per cent on March 2003 and the highest number of trades in a single month.  The
total value of these trades was £453.1 billion, an increase of 66 per cent on
March 2003.   The average daily number of trades in March 2004 reached 271,197,
an increase of 19 per cent on March 2003.  The average daily value of shares
traded in March 2004 was £19.7 billion, up 51 per cent from March 2003.



UK equities accounted for 5.1 million trades in March 2004, an increase of 31
per cent on the total of 3.88 million equity trades in March 2003.  The total
value of UK equities traded in the first three months of 2004 was £647.4
billion, up from £418.2 billion for the same period in 2003.



Trading in covered warrants and ETFs also showed year on year gains.  In March
2004, there were 9,047 ETF and 4,882 Covered Warrant trades compared to last
March's totals of 6,005 and 2,708 trades respectively.



On the primary market, there were 39 new issues in March raising £750.92 million
between them.  Five of these were on the Main Market (four of which were equity
IPOs) and 34 on AIM (27 of which were IPOs).   This compares with 8 new issues
(all on AIM) in March 2003.



There were 23 business days in March 2004, compared with 21 in March 2003.



                                    - ends -





For further information, please contact:

Richard Webster-Smith                    [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 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



March 2004


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

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    227,000         647,387          144,674         418,218
Number of Equity Trades                    5,100,181      14,302,950        3,879,641      11,222,183


INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    226,063         616,165          128,951         423,439
Number of Equity Trades                    1,137,341       2,987,919          906,416       2,841,652


ORDER BOOK TRADING

Order Book Value (£m)                            83,268         235,002           59,731         174,586
Order Book Trades                             3,634,133      10,125,719        2,865,231       8,334,913




                                                       March 2004               February 2003

DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)                                  1,373                       1,069

TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES                                             2,693                       2,777
UK list                                                1,530                    1,662
Foreign                                                371                      410
AIM                                                    792                      705
of which techMARK                                      177                      205


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

UK & AIM New Issues Equity                        751             897             10              36
Further, Rights and Other                       1,125           2,359            215             626
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                23,148          44,197         16,875          27,364
Int. New Issues Equity                             19              19              -               -
Further, Rights and Other                          17             109             48             125
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 8,846          25,380          6,247          24,128


COMPANIES ADMITTED                                 39              61              8              26





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

MSCIIFSASTITIIS