Pigs fly into London Stock Exchange trading floors

LONDON: The humble pig will be traded for the first time on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday following the launch of a new market segment for so-called Exchange Traded Commodities.   

Investors will be able to buy 19 commodities including cattle, coffee, corn, lean hogs, sugar and wheat, alongside ten baskets of commodities such as livestock and energy, the LSE said in an official news release published on Tuesday.   

The new commodities market will enable investors to buy and trade raw materials like shares, according to the statement. "London was one of the first exchanges in the world to list gold and oil securities, and we are delighted to be pioneers in becoming the first Exchange to offer investors a way to access a broad range of commodities without the need to trade futures and options," said Martin Graham, LSE director of markets.   

"It will be the first time in the City's modern history investors have had such straightforward access to these commodities through London's marketplaces, and the first time that all of these commodities have been available through the same market and the same time-zone."