London Stock Exchange
One of the oldest exchanges in the world and Europe’s most international listing venue. The LSE runs a Main Market for established companies and the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) for smaller, growing ones. A large share of its listed revenue is earned outside the United Kingdom, which makes its headline indices partly a bet on the global economy rather than the domestic one.
- Location
- 10 Paternoster Square, London, United Kingdom
- Trading currency
- Pound sterling (GBP), with some lines in USD and EUR
- Trading hours
- 08:00 to 16:30, Monday to Friday
- Trading days
- Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays
- Time zone
- Greenwich Mean Time (UTC+0, UTC+1 in British Summer Time)
- Market capitalisation
- Approximately USD 3.5 trillion (2025)
- Listed companies
- Approximately 1,700 across the Main Market and AIM (2025)
- Settlement
- T+2 through CREST, operated by Euroclear UK & International. The UK has announced a move to T+1, and the accelerated settlement taskforce has set a target date — confirm the current cycle before relying on it.
Top performing companies today
Ranked by the current session’s percentage move, strongest first, from the companies this platform covers on this venue.
Retrieving current-day prices for the companies covered on this venue…
What trades here
Major indices
- FTSE 100
- FTSE 250
- FTSE All-Share
Major listed companies
- AstraZeneca
- Shell
- HSBC
- Unilever
- BP
- Rio Tinto
Major sectors
- Energy
- Financials
- Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
- Mining
- Consumer staples
How the market works
Market structure
An electronic order book (SETS) for liquid securities, with quote-driven and hybrid segments for less liquid lines. The Main Market carries the premium and standard segments — restructured in 2024 into a single commercial companies category — while AIM applies lighter admission rules to smaller growth companies through a nominated adviser regime.
Trading mechanisms
An opening auction at 08:00, continuous trading to 16:30, and a closing auction that sets the official close used by index funds. Intraday auctions and automatic volatility halts apply to individual lines.
Listing requirements
A Main Market listing requires an FCA-approved prospectus, a minimum free float set under the UK Listing Rules, a three-year revenue-earning track record for most applicants, and compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code on a comply-or-explain basis. AIM has no minimum track record or float requirement but mandates a permanent nominated adviser.
Settlement
T+2 through CREST, operated by Euroclear UK & International. The UK has announced a move to T+1, and the accelerated settlement taskforce has set a target date — confirm the current cycle before relying on it.
Regulatory authority
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA acts as the UK Listing Authority; the LSE operates its own admission rules for AIM.
How to invest in this market
What it takes to open an account and deal on LSE, separated by where you live — the two answers are rarely the same, and on some markets they are not even the same process.
Domestic investors
Residents of United Kingdom
UK residents deal through an FCA-authorised broker or platform. The Stocks and Shares ISA is the dominant retail wrapper because gains and dividends inside it are free of UK tax.
- An account with an FCA-authorised firm covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (up to £85,000 if the firm fails — not against market losses).
- Identity and address verification; a National Insurance number is needed to open an ISA.
- No statutory minimum, though many platforms set a small minimum first deposit or regular investment.
- Stamp Duty Reserve Tax of 0.5% is charged on purchases of UK shares. AIM shares are exempt.
- Tax outside an ISA: dividends above the annual allowance are taxed at dividend rates, and gains above the annual exempt amount attract capital gains tax.
Foreign investors
Open to foreign investors
Open, and unusually easy: the UK does not withhold tax on ordinary dividends, which removes the friction that non-residents meet in most other developed markets.
- A broker offering LSE access — many international brokers do — or an account with a UK platform that accepts non-resident clients (several do not).
- Passport and proof of address.
- Stamp Duty Reserve Tax of 0.5% applies to purchases of UK-incorporated shares regardless of where the buyer lives.
- Tax: the UK does not generally withhold tax on dividends paid to non-residents. Non-residents are usually outside the UK capital gains net on listed shares, but the dividends and gains will normally be taxable where you live.
- UK inheritance tax can apply to UK-situs assets held directly by non-domiciled individuals — worth advice on a large holding.
Foreign ownership limits
No general limit. The National Security and Investment Act allows government review of acquisitions in seventeen sensitive sectors.
Currency considerations
Most lines are quoted in pence sterling — a quote of 2,450 means £24.50, which is the single most common source of confusion for new investors in London. Some depositary receipts and international lines trade in USD or EUR.
Regulated routes to an account
- Hargreaves Lansdown
- AJ Bell
- Interactive Investor
- Interactive Brokers UKCommonly used by non-UK residents.
Licensed intermediaries and official exchange platforms, listed to show the regulated routes into this market. This is not a recommendation and not an exhaustive list — check any firm against the regulator’s register before opening an account.
Verify before you act
Why this market matters
Why investors follow it
It is a global hub for resource, energy and emerging-market listings, and its time zone bridges the Asian close and the American open. Its dividend yield has historically been higher than most developed markets, which draws income investors.
Interesting facts
- Around three quarters of FTSE 100 revenue is earned outside the United Kingdom, so the index often moves inversely to sterling.
- AIM has lighter admission requirements than the Main Market and has been used by thousands of small companies since 1995.
- Trading began in London’s coffee houses, where brokers barred from the Royal Exchange for rowdiness met to deal.
Official sources