The New York Stock Exchange today announced that all immediately eligible NYSE listed-securities are now trading on Phase III of the Hybrid Market platform.

This step marks the completion of Phase III. Phase IV of the NYSE’s Hybrid Market implementation plan will commence on Jan. 25.

In Phase III, the NYSE began to automatically route orders to the best price if that price is not matched on the NYSE. All NYSE listed securities have been connected to Phase III with the exception of 43 ten-share unit issues. These securities will be connected at a later date.

In Phase IV, the NYSE will introduce Immediate or Cancel and Intermarket Sweep Orders that will not route, providing customers even more order execution choice and control.

“The successful completion of Phase III, together with NYSE Arca, NYSE Group’s fully electronic trading platform, gives our customers more choices in trading NYSE-listed securities,” said Louis Pastina, executive vice president, NYSE Group Inc. “The results to date are very positive with respect to customer acceptance and market quality.

“Our customers are experiencing faster order executions, better fill rates, and superior market quality, which has always been a hallmark of the NYSE,” Pastina added. “As quoted spreads have narrowed substantially, we continue to provide superior liquidity at the NYSE best bid and offer. Sub-second, fully electronic order executions with the potential for price improvement now account for more than 90 percent of trades. While effective spreads have widened slightly, we expect improvement with the addition of electronic tools for floor brokers and specialists that process price improvement messages electronically.”

The NYSE reports that 20% of share volume is currently handled through trading-floor brokers and specialists utilizing new Hybrid Market electronic tools. This combination of order execution styles has resulted in improvements in the NYSE’s fill rates and in quoted prices.

In the upcoming year, the NYSE plans to further enhance Hybrid Market functionality with features such as the Common Customer Gateway, a consolidated point of entry for all cash equity services which will provide customers with multiple protocol choices. In addition, the NYSE expects dramatic improvements in order throughput speed and turnaround times in 2007.