The UK stock market is the London Stock Exchange, which is shortened to “LSE”. This is where all of the major publicly traded companies in the United Kingdom reside. It’s where you should focus if you want to invest in UK companies and where you will be listed if you want to take your company public.
On this page Buy Shares In will answer all of your questions concerning the UK stock market. This is a short guide, but for a more detailed review take a look at our London Stock Exchange page. The following guide will answer your questions about:
- What are UK Stock Market Prices?
- How Can I Investing the UK Stock Market?
- What Are the UK Stock Market Hours?
- What is the UK Stock Market Index?
UK Stock Market / UK Stock Exchange
Unlike the USA, where there are several stock exchanges, the United Kingdom has only one: the London Stock Exchange. There are two markets on the UK stock exchange. These are the Main Market, where the biggest companies based in the country trade; and the AIM, which is open to smaller, international companies.
The AIM is often the market of choice for investors seeking to play the markets and earn a quick buck. That’s because this market can be more volatile, and with volatility comes the potential for quick profit.
UK Stock Market Index
The most popular UK stock market index is the FTSE 100. The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100, to give it its full name, is a list of the biggest 100 companies on the LSE. This index opened in 1984 and essentially provides traders with a way to bet on the LSE and the health of the UK economy.
There are other, similar indices as well, including the FTSE 250 Index, which covers the top 250 companies on the London Stock Exchange; FTSE 350 Index, which aggregates the two aforementioned indices; the FTSE SmallCap Index; the FTSE Fledgling Index; and the FTSE All-Share.
How to Invest in the UK Stock Market
If you reside in the United Kingdom then it’s very easy to invest in the UK stock market. The first thing you should do is make sure you have a broker. This is essentially your link to the stock market. If the stock market is the wholesaler and you are the end user, then the broker is the retailer.
To learn more about trading in this manner, visit our Online Trading page. If you’re ready to make an investment in the UK stock market, then simply grab yourself an account on a service like FxPro. This is one of the biggest share trading services in the United Kingdom, dealing with millions of pounds worth of trades every single day. You can signup from a number of countries and access stock markets from each of them. These include, but are not limited to:
- Australia (visit our page on the Australian Stock Market to learn more)
- Austria
- Cyprus
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Ireland
- Italy
- Norway
- Spain
- United Kingdom
Investing in the UK Stock Market from the US
You may have noticed that the United States is not on the above list. The truth is that you can’t join Plus500 if you live in the US. In fact, many share trading companies open to UK traders are closed to US traders. There are other companies in the US who can offer you the same service, but all of them will require you to jump through some hoops in order to invest overseas.
That’s why it’s easier just to stick with stock markets in the country you’re in. If you live in the US, then be sure to checkout our US Stock Market page, which covers information on the NYSE and the NASDAQ.
UK Stock Market News Today
For information on UK stock market news today, you’ll want to bookmark official financial pages. These will provide a feed of accurate, up-to-the-minute info. We have plenty of UK stock market news here on Buy Shares In, but as a site that focus on advice and tutorials, real-time stock market news is just not something we excel at.
Still, we’re not going to pretend that we’re the best and that you should ignore all other sites. Instead, we’ll provide you with a list of sites that we use to get UK stock market news today:
UK Stock Market Hours
If you want to invest in the UK stock market then you’ll need to make sure you’re active during UK stock market hours. The London Stock Exchange opens at 8:00am local time and closes at 4:30pm local time. You can trade throughout this time but not a minute before or after.
The markets close on the weekend and during national holidays. There are extended hours available, covering both “After Market Trading” and “Pre-Market Trading”, but these are unofficial. If you have an account with a broker or share trading service then you can also place your order outside UK stock market trading hours. Once the market reopens, the software will automatically find a placement for your order, whether it’s a buy or sell.
However, there are no guarantees that you will get the price you want if you trade this way.