Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. (WDR) shares dropped Friday following a report that a Waddell trader selling e-mini contracts played a role in last week's brief 1000-point Dow drop.

Shares of Waddell fell 6.6% to $31.81 in recent trading. Reuters reported Friday that the sale of 75,000 e-mini contracts, a liquid futures contract linked to the S&P 500 Index, accounted for 9% of e-mini trading volume on May 6, citing a document provided by CME Group Inc. (CME) . CME did not find improper trading activity at Waddell, according to Reuters.

Separately, Waddell said in a statement that the e-mini trade in question was a "longstanding and well-monitored" hedging strategy and that it was one of 250 firms making similar trades at the time of the so-called flash crash.

-Wallace Witkowski; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com
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