Price Cuts Don't Help E*Trade
E*Trade
(ET) - Get Report
Wednesday reported lower trading volume in February, a month when it cut commission costs.
The company said total daily average revenue trades fell 6.0% to 135,029. Retail volume rose 0.9% to 90,213, as a surge in international activity offset a decline in the U.S.
Trading volume rose 2.3% in January from the prior month.
The New York-based company said total retail assets and deposits in customer accounts increased 2.0% in February from January, driven by a 2.4% increase in client assets in trading/investing accounts.
E*Trade and other low-cost brokers such as
Charles Schwab
(SCH)
have been cutting trading costs to fuel business amid a period of sluggish online investing.
Among other things, E*Trade last month cut commissions on stock and options trades from $19.99 to $14.99 per trade for investors who have less than $50,000 in assets.
"In February, we made enhancements to our customer-value proposition as a part of our long-term strategic plan," the company said.
Ameritrade
(AMTD) - Get Report
last week reported another slide in average client trades in February as retail investors remained skittish.
Shares ended at $12.75 Tuesday.