Trading volumes decline on NYSE-run exchanges

NEW YORK — Fewer shares of stock and derivatives were traded on NYSE Euronext's exchanges last month, the investment exchange operator said Wednesday.

NYSE Euronext, which operates the New York Stock Exchange, said most trading volumes declined from May and from a year earlier, as nervous investors exited the market amid a weakening global economy. The portion of shares that were traded on NYSE-owned exchanges also declined.

However, European stock trading jumped 10 percent over last year and 3.5 percent from the previous month. Traders have bought and sold European investments rapidly this summer, as leaders there grapple haltingly with a three-year-old debt crisis.

An average of 8.3 million derivatives contracts were traded each day in June, down 6 percent from a year earlier, NYSE said. Trading of stock options averaged 3.6 million, down 12 percent from 2011, it said.

U.S. stocks were traded at an average daily volume of 1.8 billion shares in June, down 15 percent from the same month a year earlier, the company said.

NYSE said its Tape A matched market share, a measure of NYSE's share of the U.S. stock market, fell to 32 percent from 37 percent a year earlier.

Still, NYSE said, second-quarter trading volumes are running higher than volumes during the "weak first quarter."

NYSE Euronext shares rose 38 cents to $25.50 in midday trading Wednesday.