LSEG leads European exchanges rally as volatile March boosts vols

London Stock Exchange

31/03/2026 10:08

** LSEG LSEG.L up as much as 2.7%, leading gains across European exchange operators, as stronger March volumes in volatile markets following the outbreak of war in Iran make brokers upbeat ahead of the Q1 reporting season

** BofA lifts its 2026 EPS forecast for LSEG by 1%, citing broad-based Q1 volume strength in Tradeweb, cash equities (+37% QoQ) and OTC derivatives

** BofA's price objective of 11,500p implies about 30.5% upside from LSEG's current trading price of 8,814p. It sticks to a Buy rating

** Deutsche Boerse DB1Gn.DE and Euronext ENX.PA both up as much as 1.6%, in second day of strong gains

** JPM says European exchanges are seeing strong cash equity and fixed income volumes both on a YoY basis as well as QoQ, with derivatives volumes also rising sharply in March

** "Based on the latest reported volumes, we see the potential for low to mid single digit upgrades to consensus revenues for 1Q26 across the three exchanges, with DB1 leading the pack," JPM says

** Broader European financials .SXFP lead sectoral gains, up 1.5%, with exchange operators outperforming

 (Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru, editing by Danilo Masoni)

 ((Rashika.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))