December trading concentrated on fewer stocks in each index leading to a temporary decrease in fragmentation.

Paris - 18 January 2010 - Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux publishes its December Market Indicators produced in conjunction with TAG.

Key findings for December 2009:

• Two trends were seen: A long-term trend, whereby fragmentation continued and the main markets saw a decline in market share; and a short-term trend, the automatic effect of which was a decline in the market share of most MTFs, with a notable exception being Chi-X on the CAC 40.

• The coverage indicator is down for almost all segments, showing that trading was concentrated on fewer stocks in each index in December.
  

Key findings for 2009:

• Chi-X was undoubtedly the winner of 2009, as it now provides around 25% of lit liquidity on the FTSE 100 stocks. In contrast, BATS built an original positioning based on aggressive pricing as an incentive to connect. Among the primary markets, NYSE-Euronext was more resilient than its rivals, whilst the LSE underperformed, as a paradoxical consequence of most trading facilities moving to London. The real newcomers in late 2009 were the dark pools and other crossing networks.

• Although European liquidity is now fragmented, this has not been the case for the price formation process in 2009. As a result of their rising market share through 2009, high-frequency traders are attracting the attention of trading platforms more than ever.