Market Report - Dec 2003

London Stock Exchange Plc
09 January 2004



9 January 2004

MONTHLY MARKET REPORT FOR DECEMBER


                        STRONG DECEMBER FOR SETS TRADES


The number of trades on SETS, the London Stock Exchange's electronic order book,
increased to 2.67 million (of which 131,884 were trades on SETSmm) in December
2003, a rise of 35 per cent on the number of trades in December 2002.  The value
traded on SETS during the month was £53.2 billion (of which £1.6 billion was for
trades on SETSmm), up from £40.2 billion in December 2002.  The average daily
number of trades on SETS was 127,224 up from 98,718 in December 2002.


For the year as a whole, there were 32.9 million SETS trades, which represented
a 38 per cent increase on 2002.  The value of these trades in 2003 increased
seven per cent on 2002, from £670.5 billion to £715.2 billion.



International Order Book (IOB) trading on the Exchange increased by 50 per cent
to 27,936 trades in December 2003, up from 18,608 trades in December 2002.  The
value of these trades rose from £3.7 billion in December 2002 to £7.5 billion in
December 2003.



The total number of equity trades on the Exchange was 4.47 million in December
2003.  This was up 17 per cent on a total of 3.81 million equity trades in
December 2002.  The total value of shares traded in December 2003 was £304.3
billion, up from £258.3 billion in December last year.  In 2003 there were 56.11
million trades, a seven per cent increase on 2002.



The number of trades in the covered warrant market increased to 4,165 trades in
December 2003, compared with 901 trades in December 2002.  The value of these
trades was £128.1 million, compared with £1.67 million in December 2002.



On the primary market, there were 42 new issues during December 2003, 25 of
which were IPOs: six on the Main Market and 19 on AIM, raising £1.2 billion
between them.   This compares with 17 new issues, of which seven were IPOs in
December 2002.



During 2003, there were 201 new issues, 86 of which were IPOs: 20 on the Main
Market, (17 UK companies and three international companies) and 66 on AIM,
raising £4.5 billion between them.  This compares with 228 new issues in 2002,
97 of which were IPOs: 37 on the Main Market and 60 on AIM, raising £5.3 billion
between them.



There were 21 business days in December 2003 compared with 20 days in December
2002.



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 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.



•       International Order Book



The International Order Book (IOB) is the market for trading liquid overseas
securities.  The market is based on an electronic order book similar to SETS but
with the added option for member firms to display their identity pre-trade by
using Named Orders.

Currently almost 90 developing markets depositary receipts are traded on IOB.
The depositary receipts are issued by large companies from countries in Central
& Eastern Europe, Asia and Mediterranean.  The IOB offers easy and cost
efficient access for investors looking to invest in fast growing economies that
otherwise are onerous or costly to access directly.





LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE



MONTHLY FACTSHEET FIGURES



December 2003


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

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    147,396       1,876,922          105,935       1,815,034
Number of Equity Trades                    3,661,571      46,160,508        2,812,373      37,508,832


INTERNATIONAL EQUITY TRADING

Equity Trading Value (£m)                    156,923       1,759,120          152,408       2,780,317
Number of Equity Trades                      804,743       9,949,410        1,002,167      15,159,382


ORDER BOOK TRADING

Order Book Value (£m)                            53,159         715,169           40,165         670,500
Order Book Trades                             2,671,712      32,897,427        1,974,364      23,839,550


                                                       December 2003            December 2002

DOMESTIC MARKET CAPITALISATION (£m)                                   1,374                       1,158

TOTAL NUMBER OF COMPANIES                                             2,692                       2,824
UK list                                                1,557                    1,701
Foreign                                                381                      419
AIM                                                    754                      704
of which techMARK                                      178                      210




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

UK & AIM New Issues Equity                      1,206           3,487            170           5,375
Further, Rights and Other                         725           5,892            178          12,017
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 6,958         118,837          7,770          87,019
Int. New Issues Equity                              -           1,134              -               -
Further, Rights and Other                       2,687           7,879              -           5,455
Bonds, Warrants, Fixed Interest                 6,394          94,650          6,096          73,284


COMPANIES ADMITTED                                 42             201             17             228




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