WSJ: Financial News: Trade Sizes Continue To ATOMISED
- The average size of a trade in FTSE 100 stocks executed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE.LN) fell nearly 20% between April 2011 and January this year, according to research by Morgan Stanley, in a further sign of how the rise and rise of highly automated trading is changing the market.
The research, based on data from the LSE website, shows that the average size of a trade fell from GBP7,500 to GBP6,000 over the 10-month period.
Brian Gallagher, managing director and head of European electronic trading at Morgan Stanley, said the long-term market-wide trend is set to continue: "The average trade size will continue to be atomised as algorithmic trading grows. High frequency trading firms post quotes in multiple venues, and many brokers have invested in technology that allows them to hit several quotes at one time. This has driven marketmakers and high-frequency traders to quote even smaller trades, and the overall trade size will continue to get smaller."
