BATS Global Markets and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), now the two largest US equity exchange operators, both lost market share in January despite strong overall trading volumes.
Total US equity trading in January reached US$5.05 trillion in value traded, up from December’s US$ 4.11 trillion, and a 21.6% increase on January 2013’s US$4.15 trillion, according to data from Thomson Reuters Market Share Reporter.
January usually experiences a season bump as portfolio managers begin long-term investment strategies, but the year-on-year rise from January 2013 suggests a continuation of the optimism experienced in the US equity market throughout last year.
The four order books that now come under the BATS Global Markets brand – after its merger with Direct Edge was finalised on 3 February – traded in January US$1.08 trillion, with 21.58% market share. This represents a mild slip in share compared with December, when the four order books traded 21.85% of US equities.
NYSE also saw a mild drop in market share, slipping to 23.73% with US$1.19 trillion traded, from 25.45% in December.
Nasdaq, now the third largest US equities exchange, by market share, extended its share of US equities trading to 17.97% with US$906.7 billion traded, from 17.21% in December.
Overall, performance of US equities has trended downward in January, with US benchmark the S&P 500 slipping 3.6% for the month, making it the poorest year opening since 2010. Outflows of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also increased in January, with around US$7 billion leaving emerging market ETFs during the month.