PLUS Markets has substantially expanded its equities offering by introducing liquid European stocks to its new trading platform.
This brings the PLUS offering to some 7,500 securities now accessible on its platform, including some 7,200 liquid European stocks and almost 300 PLUS Quoted and AIM shares.
This latest expansion highlights the growth in PLUS Markets’ activities in under one year when it has raised 25 million new capital, achieved Recognised Investment Exchange status and installed the new OMX trading platform.
The new platform went live on 5 November with immediate impact. Trading activity on PLUS leapt 220% in November (from October) to 206,442 bargains worth some 1.6 billion. Trading value was up 300% by comparison to October 2007 and volumes were up 250% as against November 2006.
Investment firms can now trade all London-listed shares via the PLUS platform, including the FTSE 100. The heaviest traded stocks on PLUS in November were those in the banking sector including Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Northern Rock. In Northern Rock, trading on PLUS reached a daily peak of 34% of all on-exchange trades taking place in the UK.
During November, one-quarter of all daily UK retail trading activity took place on PLUS. Trading activity has continued to rise since month-end, hitting a daily peak of 15,428 trades in December. PLUS continues to attract one-third of trades in those AIM stocks dual-trading on its market, and over 40% of trades in constituents of the FTSE Fledgling index.
“This expansion has repositioned PLUS Markets, enabling it to provide a competitive alternative in UK securities trading coupled with access to European stocks for a broader service offering. On the basis of our November trading figures, PLUS is already the fourth largest stock exchange in Europe, by negotiated trades. Our ambition is to become a deep pool of small and mid-cap liquidity in Europe and the arrival of continental European stocks on our platform before Christmas takes us another step further towards that goal,” says Cyril Thret, business development director, PLUS.