London Stock Exchange (LSE)

London Stock Exchange (London Stock Exchange, LSE) officially founded in 1801, the stock exchange in London, but began operating much earlier. The London Stock Exchange is one of the oldest securities trading floors. Since then, the exchange has survived changes of buildings, names, terrorist attacks and fires, but it is still one of the world's leaders in the stock market.

The history of the London Stock Exchange began in a coffee shop

The history of the creation of the largest stock exchange in London begins in 1571, when the famous businessman Thomas Gresham practically on his own money and with the approval of Elizabeth I opened the Royal Exchange on the example of the Antwerp.

Initially, the LSE only traded commodities, and brokers were not allowed there because of their unpleasant manners. Eventually traders moved to nearby coffee houses - Jonathan's and Garraway's - creating speculative movements and interest among Englishmen outside the proper venue. In the 17th century, brokers did gain a foothold in the rebuilt Royal Exchange, which soon came to the attention of the English Parliament and imposed strict licensing along with a limit of brokers (up to 100 people).

Such measures discouraged the businessmen, who again engaged in trading on the street. The most organized group of them decided to build their own stock exchange, which opened its doors on December 30, 1801. Since then, the London Stock Exchange has made great strides in increasing trading and capitalization, despite the ravages of two world wars. The London Stock Exchange got its current name in 1991, a few years later moving to electronic trading and becoming a public company whose shares are traded on the exchange itself.

Activities of the LSE (London Stock Exchange)

LSE (London Stock Exchange) is the most multinational securities trading floor. More than 50% of the entire global equity trading volume participates in trading on the London Stock Exchange.

More than 3,000 securities are traded on the LSE, and the number of transactions involving shares of foreign issuers is the largest in the world. Along with this, the London Stock Exchange firmly holds the second place in futures and options trading.

Trading on the London Stock Exchange includes: stocks, bonds. Eurobonds, mutual funds.

At the moment, the London Stock Exchange has a market capitalization of 3.5 billion dollars, making it the world's third largest platform for stock trading after NYSE Euronext and NASDAQ. The latter, incidentally, persistently tried to buy a competitor in 2005-2007, but the leadership of the LSE rejected all offers of the Americans who tried to get the British to sit at the negotiating table by buying a share of the company. As a result NASDAQThe company, which held a 28% stake in the London Stock Exchange, sold it to Borse Dubai, failing in a potential deal.

Modern Structure of the London Stock Exchange

London Stock Exchange (LSE) has the following structure:

• The main market - where the shares of the world's leading companies and companies, which there are about 1,500 of more than 60 countries.
• The Alternative Investment Market is a rapidly developing segment of the London Stock Exchange, designed for promising but still little-known issuers, specifically for which less stringent listing requirements are assigned than on the Main Market.
• The tech MARK market - representing high-tech companies.

The FTSE 100 is an indicator of the British economy

The key index of the London Stock Exchange is the FTSE 100, which has been calculated in conjunction with the Financial Times since 1984. Market participants regard the FTSE 100 index as a key indicator of the state of the UK economy.

Among the largest companies represented in the index are BHP Billiton, Vodafone, HSBC, Royal Dutch Shell, British American Tobacco and Russian metals giant Evraz. The total capitalization of companies represented in the FTSE 100 Index reaches 80% of the total capitalization of the London Stock Exchange.

Trading on the London Stock Exchange is done on weekdays from 08.00 to 16.29 GMT, the closing price of the FTSE 100 is determined at 16.35 GMT.

The London Stock Exchange provides online quotes on its official website londonstockexchange.com