The London Stock Exchange (London Stock Exchange, abbreviated to LSE) is the stock exchange located in London, England (United Kingdom). Founded in 1801, it is the main European financial center by capitalization, as well as one of the first in the world.
The reference market for British shares is the London Stock Exchange located in London. It is one of the oldest stock markets in the world dating back to the 17th century. Thanks to a strong economic expansion, the LSE, as it is more often mentioned, first became a major financial institution in the City of London and then transformed into a real reference stock market that was both robust and regulated in rigid and coherent manner.
Until the mid-20th century, the Paris Stock Exchange competed fiercely with the London Stock Exchange but after the First World War, the London Stock Exchange became one of the most important stock exchanges in the world.
In fact, the London Stock Exchange is the fourth largest stock exchange in the world in terms of total stock market capitalization and ranks immediately after Germany, which is third in the standings. The top spots are currently occupied by the NYSE in the United States and the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan. This leading position among the largest international financial centers of the LSE is largely the result of its acquisition of the Italian Stock Exchange in 2007, an acquisition which made it one of the largest stock exchange groups in the world but also a particularly open financial center to the international. In fact, there are quotations of shares of 60 different countries, classified according to their sector of activity.
The London stock market is divided into several categories, the largest of which is the Main Market which corresponds to the Eurolist of the Euronext market. This is followed by the International Market where foreign companies are located, the Alternative Investment Market with smaller companies and the Domestic Equity Market.
Obviously, the English shares on which you can trade through the CFDs of the online trading platforms or through any other market placement product are all part of this financial centre. This is therefore the market to follow to find the main shares of the country.
The Main UK Stocks Listed on the FTSE
To find the main shares trading in the UK to buy or sell on the stock exchange, it is useless to search among the countless stocks listed on the London Stock Exchange. In fact, the ideal is to focus on the shares of companies that are part of the British stock market index or the FTSE. And now a few more notions on this reference index also known under the name of “Footsie”.
The FTSE 100 is the index of the English stock market and, as the name indicates, is made up of 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange chosen according to the importance of their total stock market capitalisation. We therefore speak of the FTSE 100 as a capitalization-weighted index. But the FTSE is also known for being one of the largest stock market indexes in the world and one of the most followed by traders because it reflects the performances of large companies in the United Kingdom, which is one of the major economies in the world.
Since the FTSE is a capitalization-weighted index of its component companies, it is important to understand how some of the stocks in it affect its price the most. In fact, the top 10 listed companies alone already represent no less than 40% of the total value of the index. Among the top positions in the ranking are mainly companies in the energy sector, such as oil or gas, including the companies Royal Dutch Shell and BP. These companies then issue securities which should be considered as part of the main English stock.
It should also be noted that the composition of the FTSE index evolves over time and more precisely every quarter the companies that make it up are valued and may be replaced. Although the FTSE 100 is the most interesting index for finding the main British stocks, you can also refer to the FTSE 250 index which is its equivalent, however including, as the name indicates, the next 250 companies with the most significant market capitalization and which are not part of the FTSE 100. When a company listed on the FTSE 250 sees its market capitalization increase to the point where it exceeds that of a company listed on the FTSE 100, the position of the two companies is swapped provided that the former reaches directly one of the top 90 positions of the FTSE 100 ranking and the second falls to at least 111th position.
