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.