Pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) Turquoise attained its highest ever monthly market share figure in February, as overall equity volumes dipped slightly following a strong start to the year.
Turquoise, owned by the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), hit 7.1% of market share for equities with €49 billion traded last month, up from 4.9% in February and 5.5% in January, according to data from Thomson Reuters Market Share Reporter.
Turquoise’s share of European trading was its highest since launching in late 2008, even though turnover last month was lower than the €68.7 billion and €51.7 billion recorded in August and September 2011 respectively, during a period of extraordinary volatility in European equity markets.
Natan Tiefenbrun, CEO of Turquoise, attributed the February high to the venue’s tiered pricing structure, which he said becomes more attractive with higher market volumes.
“A general increase in trading volumes has translated into Turquoise being at the European best bid and offer more often, and in greater size – moving us higher in smart order routers’ queues and improving fill rates for passive orders,” Tiefenbrun said.
Total equities trading for Europe fell slightly to €693.7 billion last month, showing an expected decline from January’s €706.6 billion.
Europe’s two largest venues by market share saw little month-on-month change, with BATS Chi-X Europe maintaining its January figure of 17.6%, while second-largest Deutsche Börse slipped to 12% from 12.2% in January. Trading on the London Stock Exchange dropped to 11.1% with €76.7 billion traded in February, from 11.8% and €83.5 billion traded a month prior.
Other notable shifts in February included Borsa Italiana dropping its market share to 7.4% in February, from 9% in January.
Trading on dark multilateral trading facilities accounted for 4.4% of overall equities traded in February, with €31.2 billion traded, down from €32.5 billion in January. BATS Chi-X Europe maintained its lead in market share, attracting 19.4% of dark orders in February down slightly from 20.3% in January. Rival UBS MTF stood a close second with 18.3% market share, also a mild decrease on its January figure of 19.8%.