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As far as I understand, IBM stocks are trading in New York at $141.83 currently, with 1.84m of shares traded daily(?) and some +7% change of price in the recent year: https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/summary?s=IBM:NYQ

In Berlin the price is 129.64 EUR, which is very close after EUR/USD exchange: https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/summary?s=IBM:BER

However, IBM stocks in London are trading at $118.95 (sic!), volume is ~2k, and the 1 year change in price is exactly zero: https://markets.ft.com/data/equities/tearsheet/summary?s=IBM:LSE

What is the difference between IBM:NYQ/IBM:BER and IBM:LSE? Why is the latter traded at a fixed price? Why dollars instead of pounds? As there is non-zero volume, I assume some entities still trade it, but why?

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IBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) but not actually traded on the LSE via a lit central order book. $118.95 is the official closing price of IBM on LSE everyday, but there aren't any actual trades on the central order book that transact at that price.

All the trades for IBM on LSE are bilaterally negotiated "off-book", "block", or "off-exchange" trades. An off exchange transaction in an exchange traded security is negotiated bilaterally, and then posted to the exchange on which the security is listed.

If you navigate to the publicly available IBM LSE trade recap you can see that all of the trades that took place today were off exchange. Off-exchange trades posted to the LSE today tie closely to where the security traded in the US , ~$141.15 VWAP.

You'll also notice that off-exchange transactions post in either GBP or USD.

IBM LSE Trade Recap

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    Is this basically the stock-exchange equivalent of an out-of-date price sign at a gas station that's been closed for years? Or is there a reason they actively report this value every day? (I.e, why this particular price, let alone any price?)
    – chepner
    Jan 19 at 20:19
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    Yea great question...there should be rules in the exchange rulebook that govern the selection of an official closing price when there are no central order book trades throughout the day. My best guess is those rules were applied at some point to arrive at 118.95 and then just rolled ever since...
    – Thomas Boyd
    Jan 19 at 20:56
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    Is it clear why all trades are "off-book"? Is it no longer possible to trade it on the exchange and if so how did that happen?
    – Kvothe
    Jan 20 at 10:35
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    @Kvothe Sounds like a new question.
    – T.J.L.
    Jan 20 at 14:00
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    Personally, I would say it is part of the same question. The only reason I care is because I saw this question. I think this will likely be true for everyone. I think it would be better to answer both in one place.
    – Kvothe
    Jan 20 at 14:03

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