NYSE Valuation

“It’s reasonable to assume that he perceived a mismatch between the value of NYSE and the then-current price,” Creatura said in a telephone interview yesterday. “There’s a price tag for everything, even things that aren’t growing.”

Average daily volume for stocks listed on U.S. exchanges has declined every year since 2009, falling 18 percent in 2012 to a low of 6.42 billion shares per day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with 9.77 billion in 2009, the data show. The daily average in 2013 has been 6.31 billion.

NYSE Euronext’s share of U.S. equity trading has shrunk to about 20 percent from 82 percent a decade ago amid the proliferation of other venues, dark pools and broker-run markets. While profit at the company has fallen for the past three quarters, analysts are projecting a 22 percent rebound this year, based on estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“The fact that Mr. Buffett made an offer has got to make you feel that this industry is not dead and ready for a return to glory,” Larry Peruzzi, senior equity trader at Cabrera Capital Markets LLC in Boston, wrote in an e-mail. “I would view this as a positive for exchange volumes.”

Earnings Season

ICE, based in Atlanta, said on Dec. 20 it will pay $33.12 a share for the owner of the New York Stock Exchange. Both boards approved the proposal and the companies expect to complete the transaction in the second half of 2013.

ICE said will seek a European Union merger review of its plans to buy NYSE Euronext to avoid multiple probes across the 27-nation bloc. While the company must formally ask U.K., Portugal and Spain to approve the deal, it said it will ask for EU regulators to take charge of examining the transaction, according to a regulatory filing published yesterday.

NYSE Euronext is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 5. The shares have risen 40 percent since Dec. 19, the day before the takeover was announced, compared with a 7.9 percent advance for the Bloomberg World Exchange Index. The stock rose 0.6 percent to $33.91 at 10:25 a.m. New York time today, advancing for a fourth straight day.

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