Some of Europe's major stock markets including the London Stock Exchange and NYSE Euronext enjoyed an uptick in their share of equities trading during the first half of the year, as they stage a fightback against the alternative venues to which they have leaked activity over recent years.

NYSE Euronext, which operates national exchanges in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon, saw its overall share of European equities trading increase from 13.8% in January to 16.2% last month, according to data from Thomson Reuters. The group's Paris market reported that trading in French stocks increased from 60.3% to 65% over the same period.