AX Trading, a US auction-based alternative trading system, traded over one million shares in a single day for the first time this week.
The small and mid-cap-focused market, recorded 1,123,200 shares traded on 7 August according to Bloomberg’s trade advertising service.
AX Trading CEO Kevin Callahan said while trading was mostly done in two stocks – Powerwave Technologies (PWAV) and VF Corporation – the amount of shares traded was a strong indicator the venue was doing well.
“This is a great achievement for the AX. While we recognise that most of the trading volume on the AX yesterday was in a single, rather low-priced stock, PWAV, a million shares is still a million shares.
“The transactions in these two very different stocks demonstrate that the AX model serves the needs of market participants in a unique way. Driven by clients, the AX offers capabilities in trading US equities regardless of exchange listing, type or size that are simply not available in any other venue,” Callahan said.
AX Trading, which uses electronic, trader-initiated call auctions to protect buyer and seller trading intentions, was launched in November last year and in March listed their first trading month of over one million shares.
In June, the venue launched a social networking-inspired auction invitation system, which allows traders to target the specific counterparties they wish to interact with. The system also included Targeted Trading Groups for major industries and sectors.