May 01, 2012
BATS retains market share despite tech bug
US volumes declined slightly in April, with
BATS Exchange appearing to hold a steady market share despite a technology failure
that caused it to cancel its own IPO at the end of March.
Overall US equity trading volume dropped 8.6%
to US$4.14 trillion in April compared to US$4.5 trillion the previous month,
according to Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter. Last month’s total
was just below April 2011’s total of US$4.25 trillion.
Market share among the region’s largest
exchanges remained relatively steady with NYSE Euronext remaining the largest
venue with 26.54% market share, slightly lower than the 27.07% recorded in
March. Nasdaq OMX increased its share slightly to 20.17% in April, from 19.53%
the previous month.
BATS, which runs two US equity exchanges,
grabbed a market share of 12.37%, which was higher than March’s total of
12.01%, suggesting members did not lose confidence following the technical glitch it experienced on 26 March.
The issue affected the recently launched
listings business on BATS’ BZX exchange and caused the firm to withdraw the
debut of its own stock. The problem also briefly affected quotes in Apple
stock.
BATS’ closest competitor Direct Edge
suffered a marginal loss in market share last month, capturing 8.94% of US
equity trading compared to 9.24% in April.
Anish Puaar
+44 (0)20 7397 3817
anish.puaar@thetrade.ltd.uk