January 2005 was the busiest trading month on record for the London Stock Exchange with an average 298,284 equity trades across the Exchange each day, rising nine per cent on January 2004. The total number of equity trades during the month was 6.0 million, with a total value of £386.0 billion.

On SETS the average daily number of trades reached a record 187,144, up 17 per cent on January 2004. The average daily value of trades on SETS was £3.6 billion, slightly higher than in January 2004, which was itself one of the busiest months on record on SETS. On SETSmm there were 374,911 order book trades during the month, worth a total of £3.9 billion, a 31 per cent increase on the value traded in January last year.

ETFs made an increased contribution to the Exchange’s trading figures in January 2005: the total value traded increased 78 per cent on the same month last year to £517.6 million.

The London Stock Exchange’s primary markets also made a strong start to the year with 22 new issues in the course of January 2005, twice as many as in the same period last year. There was one IPO on the main market in January, raising £2.0 million. AIM saw eight IPOs during the month, raising a total of £8.6 million between them and increasing the total number of companies on AIM to 1,035.

There were 20 trading days in January 2005, compared with 21 in January 2004.

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Notes to editors:

• About the London Stock Exchange

  The London Stock Exchange is one of the world’s foremost 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 2004, the market capitalisation of UK and international companies on the London Stock Exchange’s markets amounted to £3.5 trillion, with £4.7 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 seven 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 media@ftse.com

• IPO

  An IPO or Initial Public Offering is when a new company joins our market and raises capital by issuing shares. This excludes transfers and introductions (when companies join the market without raising money).

• SETSmm

  SETSmm is the Exchange’s successful 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 -
  www.londonstockexchange.com/en-gb/products/membershiptrading/retailtradestat
  Figures are available from November 2002 to date.

LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES

January 2005

	2005		2004
DOMESTIC EQUITY TRADING	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
Equity Trading Value (£m)	196,769	196,769	209,749	209,749
Number of Equity Trades	4,752,860	4,752,860	4,763,719	4,763,719
INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING
Equity Trading Value (£m)	189,192	189,192	210,245	210,245
Number of Equity Trades	1,212,814	1,212,814	968,082	968,082

	January 2005		January 2004
DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£bn)		1,517		1,367
TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES		2,844		2,681
UK List	1,460		1,548
Foreign	349		376
AIM	1,035		757
of which techMARK	167		176

	2005		2004
MONEY RAISED (£m)	Month	Year to date	Month	Year to date
UK & AIM New Issues Equity	12	12	84	84
Further, Rights and Other	163	163	988	988
Bonds, Warrants and Fixed Interest	11,180	11,180	16,609	16,609
International New Issues Equity	-	-	-	-
Further, Rights and Other	69	69	91	91
Bonds, Warrants and Fixed Interest	5,008	5,008	8,586	8,586
COMPANIES ADMITTED	22	22	11	11

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