The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are fighting against plans by rival venue Bats to compete for a share of the trades made around the daily closing auctions, Alexander Osipovich writes for The Wall Street Journal.

Bats’ proposal would "introduce undesirable market fragmentation and volatility", NYSE said in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission published online on Thursday. In a similar letter, Nasdaq  called the plan "harmful to investors" and said it "would establish a dangerous precedent".