The London Stock Exchange said that trading values had tumbled since financial turmoil hit the markets in October but the subsequent scramble to raise new equity pushed secondary fundraising levels to a record high.

Equity trading dropped heavily in the five months from October to the end of February, the exchange said. While the FTSE 100 dropped 32 per cent, the average daily value traded on its SETS trading systems was down 40 per cent at £5.6bn.