Schwab to offer on-line US shares dealing

CHARLES SCHWAB, the phone and Internet-based retail stockbroker, is to launch an online dealing service in US shares to British customers next month.

The move will enable Schwab's UK-based customers to join the wave of day-trading that has become an increasingly important feature of the US market, particularly for hi-tech stocks. In day-trading investors, all of whom are retail clients operating from home, aim to make a profit by buying and selling the stock within the same day - a tactic which, before the Internet, was practical only for professional investors. Customers will be able to trade in stocks listed on Nasdaq as well as the New York Stock Exchange.

Since launching its Internet service in the UK last year, charles Schwab has traded shares worth pounds 300m and claims to be the largest player in the UK e-commerce market. The firm has 12,000 UK online customers, with 750 joining every week.