Program trading volume rose last week on the NYSE Euronext's
(NYX) New York Stock Exchange, but the proportion of program trades
compared with total volume slid because of a big surge in overall
trading.
The daily program-trading volume average was 597.6 million
shares with an average total volume of 2.52 billion shares. Those
figures were up from 520.4 million and 2.08 billion, respectively,
the previous week. But the percentage of program trades out of
total volume slipped to 24% from 25%.
The most active NYSE member firm for program trading last week
was Morgan Stanley (MS) followed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS),
switching spots from the previous week. Barclays PLC (BCS, BARC.LN)
was next, followed by Deutsche Bank AG (DB, DBK.XE).
Program trading encompasses a wide range of portfolio-trading
strategies involving the purchase or sale of a basket of at least
15 stocks.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com