Nasdaq Defectors Flocking To Nyse

A New York Stock Exchange official said Wednesday he expects a record number of Nasdaq companies to defect to the Big Board this year.

Roadway Services Inc. of Akron, Ohio, a $5 billion transportation company, was the latest big Nasdaq company to announce plans to move to the NYSE, where it will begin trading next week.

Robert Britz, a NYSE vice president, said Roadway’s move will help the exchange surpass its 1988 record of 52 companies that left Nasdaq for the NYSE.

Nasdaq spokesman Marc Beauchamp said 34 companies left Nasdaq for the NYSE by the end of September, higher than the 26 departures in 1994.