What is a trading room?

A trading room is the front office of a financial market where buy and sell orders are carried out. It’s often loud, with phones ringing and banks of TV screens for traders to hear the latest broadcasts about the markets on business channels.

Where have you heard about trading rooms?

Trading rooms have their roots in the old open outcry system of a stock exchange trading pit. Many of the traditional trading floors that once dominated market exchanges have started to disappear as trading has become more electronically based.

What you need to know about trading rooms.

Exchanges contain a trading room where either brokers carry out trades or computers are used to facilitate orders. The trading rooms at large exchanges might concentrate on a particular asset class, such as equities, bonds or commodities.

Trading rooms can also be found in brokerages, investment banks and other companies involved in trading activities. In this case, it's a physical office space that houses the trading division, which can complete deals over the internet or phone.

Electronic trading has made it possible for some trading rooms to flourish outside the major cities.

Find out more about trading rooms.

Read our definition of stock exchange to learn more about trading activities.