Market report - March 2008

London Stock Exchange Group PLC
07 April 2008

07 April 2008

ETR - 6



         ELECTRONIC ORDER BOOK TRADING GROWS 33 PER CENT DURING MARCH


The number of electronic equity trades carried out on the London Stock Exchange
and Borsa Italiana during March 2008 averaged 1.1 million per day, an increase
of 33 per cent on March 2007, which at the time was a record month on both
exchanges' markets. A total of 21.2 million equity trades were carried out
during the month.  Despite the lower market values and the very strong
comparators, the average combined daily value traded also increased, up one per
cent to £13.2 billion (€16.6 billion).

The total number of equity trades for the first calendar quarter of 2008 was up
46 per cent to 70 million compared to the same period in 2007.  The total value
traded in Q1 was £850 billion (€1.1 trillion), an increase of 14 per cent.



UK Order Book


During March the average daily number of trades on the UK Order Book was
767,195, up 56 per cent on March 2007, a record month at the time. Total number
of electronic equity trades for the month was 14.6 million. The average daily
value traded was £8.7 billion (€11 billion), up seven per cent.

The total number of trades during Q1 2008 was 48.5 million, an increase of 78
per cent compared to Q1 2007.  The total value traded in Q1 was £564 billion
(€739 billion), an increase of 21 per cent compared to the same period in 2007.



Italian Order Book


The average daily number of trades in Italian equities during March 2008 was
304,019, two per cent less than last year's record but an increase of eight per
cent on last month. The average daily value traded was €4.7 billion (£3.7
billion) during March 2008; like the number of trades, this was down on last
March but up on the previous month.

The total number of trades on the order book during March 2008 was 5.8 million
and the total value traded was €88.5 billion (£70.4 billion).



International Order Books


There were 798,064 electronic trades in international equities carried out
across the two exchanges' markets in March 2008.  On a daily basis, this equated
to an average of 42,003 trades, an increase of 25 per cent on the previous year.

The total value of international equity trades during Q1 2008 was £54.3 billion
(€71.2 billion) an increase of 17 per cent compared to the same period in 2007.
 In total, there were 2.5 million electronic trades on the international order
books, an increase of 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2007.


ETFs and ETCs


During March, there was a strong year on year increase in the number and value
of ETFs and ETCs traded across the two markets: the average daily number of ETFs
and ETCs traded rose 64 per cent to 8,083 while the average daily value traded
increased 108 per cent to £278 million (€349 million).  The total number of ETFs
and ETCs traded was 153,571 and the total value traded was £5.3 billion (€6.6
billion).

March was a record month for trading in UK ETCs.  The total number of trades
increased to 22,287, almost nine times more than the previous year's figures.
The total value of ETCs traded was £1.2 billion (€1.5 billion), a seven fold
year on year increase.


Derivatives


The average daily number of contracts traded on EDX and IDEM during March was
380,695, up 21 per cent on the previous year.  A total of 7.2 million contracts
were traded during the month with a notional value of £146.6 billion (€184.2
billion).

Separately, there were 220,115 trades in securitised derivatives during the
month, amounting to a total value traded of £1.6 billion (€2.0 billion).





                                    - Ends -



Enquiries:


Fiona Hurst                 [phone]

Luca Grassis                [phone]

Marta Testi                 [phone]









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 19 trading days on both exchanges' markets during March 2008, three
less than during March 2007.

During March, the average daily number of trades on SETS - covering all equity
based order book trading on the London Stock Exchange - was 796,760.  This was
an increase of 57 per cent on March 2007.  The average daily value traded on
SETS during the month was £9.5 billion (€11.9 billion), an increase of eight per
cent on March 2007.

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

The March 2008 value traded figures use a €:£ exchange rate of 1.2566. The
exchange rate used for March 2007 was 1.4710.



                      BORSA ITALIANA - LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE  ELECTRONIC ORDER BOOK TRADING

                                            March 2008                                  March 2007
                                                                    Totals

                                Trades    Value Traded     Value            Trades    Value Traded     Value
                                               £m                                          £m
                                                         Traded €m                                   Traded €m

       UK equities             14,576,710    165,763.1      208,297.4      10,795,772    179,979.0      264,752.9
     Italian equities           5,776,365     70,417.6       88,486.5       6,858,395     90,988.6      133,846.1
  International equities          798,064     15,542.3       19,530.4         741,911     17,296.0       25,442.7
       ETFs & ETCs                153,571      5,283.6        6,639.3         108,323      2,946.1        4,333.8
 Securitised Derivatives          220,115      1,570.0        1,972.9         495,181      4,319.9        6,354.8
 Derivatives (EDX, IDEM)        7,233,203    146,623.4      184,246.6       6,915,408    157,774.1      232,089.0

                                                                 Average daily

       UK equities                767,195      8,724.4       10,963.0         490,717      8,180.9       12,034.2
     Italian equities             304,019      3,706.2        4,657.2         311,745      4,135.8        6,083.9
  International equities           42,003        818.0        1,027.9          33,723        786.2        1,156.5
       ETFs & ETCs                  8,083        278.1          349.4           4,924        133.9          197.0
 Securitised Derivatives           11,585         82.6          103.8          22,508        196.4          288.9
 Derivatives (EDX, IDEM)          380,695      7,717.0        9,697.2         314,337      7,171.5       10,549.5

                                       January to March 2008                       January to March 2007

                                                                    Totals

                                Trades    Value Traded     Value            Trades    Value Traded     Value
                                               £m                                          £m
                                                         Traded €m                                   Traded €m

       UK equities             48,538,666    563,916.5      738,994.0      27,239,955    465,898.3      692,565.1
     Italian equities          18,964,842    230,514.4      301,877.3      18,508,344    231,923.4      344,665.9
  International equities        2,522,585     54,301.6       71,186.9       2,110,106     46,538.8       69,216.1
       ETFs & ETCs                497,486     15,573.1       20,351.9         389,490      7,583.4       11,271.4
 Securitised Derivatives          724,538      5,179.1        6,786.7       1,479,707     15,712.9       23,415.0
 Derivatives (EDX, IDEM)       23,255,173    422,731.7      552,148.9      17,657,854    356,293.1      529,023.9

                                                                 Average daily

       UK equities                782,882      9,095.4       11,919.3         425,624      7,279.7        10821.3
     Italian equities             305,885      3,740.7        4,869.0         289,193      3,623.8        5,385.4
  International equities           40,687        875.8        1,148.2          32,970        727.2        1,081.5
       ETFs & ETCs                  8,024        251.2          328.3           6,086        118.5          176.1
 Securitised Derivatives           11,686         83.5          109.5          23,120        245.5          365.9
 Derivatives (EDX, IDEM)          375,083      6,818.3        8,905.6         275,904      5,567.1        8,266.0

For Derivatives, the values used are notional values while 'trades' refer to contracts traded






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