NYX Nyse Euronext

Program trading slid last week on NYSE Euronext's (NYX) New York Stock Exchange as stock volume also declined.

The daily program-trading average was 512 million shares, or 24.2% of the average total volume of 2.11 billion shares. Those figures were down from 809.6 million shares, or 33.7% of the 2.41 billion-share average volume, posted the previous week. Program trading jumped the previous week as stock trading rose amid the quarterly expiration of stock-index options and futures, stock options and single-stock futures.

The most active NYSE member firm for program trading last week was Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), followed closely by Morgan Stanley (MS) and Barclays PLC (BCS).

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