DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NYSE Euronext (NYX) said its previously reported program-trading
percentage of 48.6% for the week of June 22-26 was correct because
it included trades by Goldman Sachs & Co. (GS) even though the
firm was left off the list of most active firms.
The absence of Goldman Sachs on NYSE's weekly list raised
eyebrows. Speculation surrounding the matter increased over the
weekend after the U.S. Justice Department arrested a former Goldman
Sachs employee and charged him with stealing computer codes related
to the firm's high-speed trading platform.
The snafu also fueled concerns about the exchange itself, which
suffered a rash of technical problems last week after implementing
a new trade-execution system. On Thursday, it even extended
equity-market trading by 15 minutes because of a connectivity
problem.
On Tuesday, the NYSE revised its list of most active firms in
program trading, placing Goldman at the top ahead of Credit Suisse
Group's (CS) securities unit.
The exchange also revised volume to 1.676 billion program-traded
shares per day from 1.678 billion. NYSE also changed the figure for
program trading in all markets by member firms to 4.896 billion
from 4.899 billion.
The NYSE publishes figures on program trading - the act of using
computer models to engage in purchases or sales - of its member
firms once a week. Program trading has picked up significantly this
year as high-frequency trading desks have grown.
-By Jay Miller, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2355;
jay.miller@dowjones.com