Program trading jumped last week on NYSE Euronext's (NYX) New
York Stock Exchange as stock trading rose amid the arrival of the
the first quadruple-witching period of the year.
The daily program-trading average was 809.6 million shares, or
33.7% of the average total volume of 2.41 billion shares. Those
figures are up from 489.4 million shares, or 23.1% of the 2.12
billion-share average volume, posted the previous week.
Friday marked the quarterly expiration of stock-index options
and futures, stock options and single-stock futures. That typically
drives up trading volume.
The most active NYSE member firm for program trading last week
was Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), followed closely by Barclays PLC
(BCS) and Morgan Stanley (MS).
Program trading encompasses a wide range of portfolio-trading
strategies involving the purchase or sale of a basket of at least
15 stocks.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john.kell@dowjones.com