NYX Nyse Euronext

The biggest U.S. stock exchanges saw billions of shares change hands in the final moments of Friday's trading session as investors navigated the annual rebalancing of the Russell 2000 stock index.

NYSE Euronext (NYX) reported that 1.23 billion shares were traded in its closing auction Friday, while Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) saw a record 1.04 billion shares shift in its so-called closing cross trade, according to exchange officials.

The annual recomposition of the Russell 2000 is a huge event for index funds looking to track the basket of small-cap stocks, which are compelled to buy up shares of companies entering the index and unload any that exit.

The massive juggling of stocks also draws in speculators seeking opportunities in Russell-related stocks as the market heads into the final seconds of trading.

"It's one of the bigger volume days of the year," said Ray Pellecchia, spokesman for NYSE Euronext.

The rebalancing of the Russell 2000 index is particularly eventful as it comes but once a year, compared to the quarterly rebalancing of the influential Standard & Poor's 500 index.

At Nasdaq OMX, Friday's record closing cross volume of 1.04 billion shares took place in 0.85 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than the prior year's Russell rebalancing.

"It's the seventh year in a row where we've done progressively more volume each year," said Eric Noll, head of transaction services for Nasdaq OMX.

Because the funds and traders seeking to deal in past, present and future Russell 2000 issues need the stocks' official closing price, trading activity at the close tends to gravitate toward the Big Board and Nasdaq, the heavyweight listing markets.

Electronic market operators BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge both ceded some trading activity to NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX as Friday's session wound down, according to exchange officials.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

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