NYSE Trading Falls to 7-Year Low as U.S. Volume Rises

Bloomberg reports:

Trading on the New York Stock Exchange fell 26 percent this quarter to the lowest since 2001 as competing platforms such as Bats Trading Inc. captured market share and the total volume of U.S. equities climbed.

Investors are moving away from the floor brokers who dominated trading for most of the Big Board's 216-year-history. The increasing use of automated strategies pushed NYSE Euronext to overhaul systems and cut transaction costs to keep pace with orders that flicker in a hundredth of a second.