The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has roots that go back 300 years, making it one of the world’s longest-established stock exchanges. The LSE moved to electronic trading in 1986. The LSE is now part of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) which also operates the Borsa Italiana and the pan-European Turquoise equities exchange.
As a longstanding financial hub of commonwealth and Anglo-American trade, the LSE offers relatively high liquidity and a broad range of financial products. More than 2500 companies, many of which operate internationally, are listed on the LSE. Products traded on the exchange include shares in corporate stocks, exchange traded funds (ETFs), derivatives, retail bonds, structured products, covered warrants, debt securities, exchange traded commodities (ETCs), global depositary receipts, sukuk and GILTS (UK government bonds). Swiss bank UBS participates in the LSE.
The FTSE 100 index, published by the Financial Times, tracks the performance of 100 key stocks listed on the LSE.
Trading hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m to 4:30 p.m GMT (UTC-0)
Settlement cycle: T+2
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