(Updates with details on Bats Trading)
By Jay Miller and Jacob Bunge
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NYSE Euronext (NYX) and BATS Global Markets said Tuesday that
they have reduced order-execution times on their electronic
stock-trading platforms, as exchanges battle for the business of
high-speed traders.
NYSE Euronext ramped up the speed of its Arca exchange with the
implementation of the company's Universal Trading Platform,
continuing an expansion of the system that began in late 2008.
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. Those times are down from 750 microseconds
and one to three milliseconds, respectively.
Kansas City, Mo.-based BATS reported Tuesday its U.S. BATS
Exchange platform has reduced its average order latency to 250
microseconds from 400 microseconds.
The times are hugely important to high-frequency trading firms,
which move in and out of positions in microseconds to eke out
profits through a variety of strategies.
A millisecond is 0.001 second, while a microsecond is 0.001
millisecond.
NYSE Euronext in December claimed about 28% of the U.S.
stock-trading market, its market share holding relatively steady
over recent months but well below the 34% the exchange operator had
in December 2008.
Some of that business has shifted to electronic competitors like
BATS and Direct Edge, which last month had 9.3% and 10% of the U.S.
market, respectively. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) saw its market
share dip to 22% from 25% in November, according to estimates.
NYSE shares were recently down 0.7% at $25.55, while Nasdaq OMX
shares were off 0.2% at $20.21.
-By Jay Miller, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2355;
jay.miller@dowjones.com; and Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires;
(312) 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com