BATS Global Markets has seen its share of US equity trading volume fall significantly in the first half of 2014, following its acquisition of fellow exchange operator Direct Edge earlier this year.
The loss of market share, according to figures from Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Reporter, comes at a time when the market share of the other two major US equities exchange players, The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq OMX, remain relatively stable at 26.2% and 17% respectively.
Combined trading across BATS and Direct Edge order books for the first half of this year was 21% of all US equity trading. However, in the same period of 2013, prior to the merger, the order books of BATS and Direct Edge combined represented 24.3% of market turnover.
Despite the fall in market share, growth in overall US trading volumes mean that the actual amount transacted on the exchanges has not significantly changed, although NYSE, Nasdaq OMX and the much smaller Chicago Stock Exchange have benefited from increased trading volumes.
During the first half of this year, US equity market turnover increased by 9.46% from US$25.7 trillion from the same period in 2013, to US$28.23 trillion. Month-on-month volume fell slightly, from US$4.17 trillion in May to US$4.03 trillion in June.
BATS completed its acquisition of Direct Edge in January after receiving regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission and began combined trading in February. In June, BATS Global Markets announced test dates for its new integrated matching platform, which will take place between October and January 2015.