LSE, BORSA ITALIANA REPORT 46 PERCENT YEAR-OVER-YEAR INCREASE IN ELECTRONIC TRADING

Posted March 6, 2008

LONDON – The London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Borsa Italiana report an increase of 46 percent in electronic equity trading during February 2008 compared to the previous February, with a total of 21.2 million equity trades carried out electronically last month.

The total value traded was £259.5 billion ($521.2 billion), up 16 percent over February 2007. The average daily number of electronic equity trades increased 39 percent to 1 million, while the average daily value traded grew 10 percent to £12.4 billion ($24.9 billion).

During February, the total number of electronic equity trades on the UK order book was 14.5 million, an increase of 82 percent year on year. The average daily number of trades was 691,357, up 73 percent over February 2007. The total value traded during the month was £172.6 billion ($346.6 billion), an increase of 24 percent on February 2007. The average daily value traded grew 18 percent year on year to £8.2 billion ($16.5 billion).

The total number of trades in Italian equities during the month was flat at 5.9 million, and the total value traded was down 13 percent over February 2007 to €92.3 billion ($141.9 billion). The average daily number of Italian equity trades was 281,733, and the average daily value traded was €4.4 billion ($6.8 billion).