London Stock Exchange to launch LSE 24 24/5 venue

The London Stock Exchange announced plans to introduce LSE 24, a new trading venue operating Monday to Friday from 17:00 to 07:50 UK time with a 30-minute pause each evening for end-of-day processes. The venue is designed to enable near-continuous trading and to support automated, agent-based trading workflows.

LSE 24 will operate alongside the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market and will run separately from the existing session, which continues to trade from 08:00 to 16:30. The extended hours are intended to give global investors more opportunity to access liquidity and manage risk across time zones.

The venue will be built on LSEG’s existing market infrastructure. Client testing is scheduled by the end of 2026. Exchange Traded Products are expected to be the first asset class to trade in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval and market demand.

The trading model will combine elements of a central limit order book and request-for-quote functionality to support price transparency and on-demand liquidity. The venue’s technical design will provide native, secure connectivity for automated trading systems so clients can link market data, order management and execution workflows inside a regulated exchange environment.

The exchange will apply a daily 30-minute pause from 18:30 to 19:00 UK time for end-of-day processing, settlement and risk controls. LSE 24 may be expanded to include equities after the initial ETP phase, if regulators and market demand allow.

LSE 24 will connect with LSEG’s Digital Securities Depository, a project to digitise issuance, settlement and asset servicing. The depository is intended to support additional settlement functions and interoperability with other market participants as new asset classes and features are introduced.

Julia Hoggett, CEO of LSE plc and Head of Digital and Securities Markets at LSEG, noted that the venue would give clients greater flexibility beyond traditional hours and support deeper liquidity, greater efficiency and broader participation in London’s markets.