DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NYSE Euronext (NYX) cut order-execution times on its NYSE Arca
exchange with the launch of its Universal Trading Platform.
The exchange has been cutting times in an effort to catch up
with faster competitors who have taken market share. The times are
hugely important to high-frequency trading firms, which measure
trade executions in microseconds.
The exchange said Arca customers are now experiencing round-trip
executions of 650 microseconds, or millionths of a second, for
Nasdaq-listed issues and 950 microseconds for NYSE- and NYSE
Arca-listed exchanges, which NYSE said generally have deeper books
and more orders. Those times are down from 750 microseconds and one
to three milliseconds, respectively.
A millisecond is 0.001 second, while a microsecond is 0.001
millisecond.
The rollout of the new platform on NYSE Arca's cash market began
in early November and will continue through mid-January.
NYSE shares were recently down 0.8% at $25.53. The stock is down
12% over the past year.
-By Jay Miller, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2355;
jay.miller@dowjones.com