DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Charles Schwab Corp.'s (SCHW) daily trading volume eased in January from a year earlier but rose from a quiet December, echoing trading trends at its fellow online brokerages last month. Schwab, the largest discount brokerage by client assets, said its daily average client trades totaled 468,400 last month, down 8% from January 2011 yet up by the same amount from December. Trading often eases during the December holiday stretch, although investor fears over a sovereign debt crisis in Europe also added to an end-of-year slowdown. E*Trade Financial Corp. (ETFC) on Monday reported its daily trading volume fell in January from a year earlier but moved higher from December levels. Total client assets at Schwab rose to $1.74 trillion as of the end of January, a record sum, according to the company. Shares closed Monday at $12.32 and were inactive premarket. The stock is up 9.4% since the start of the year. -By Mia Lamar, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-3207; mia.lamar@dowjones.com
