NYSE's CEO denies SEC investigation -- analyst

NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) - NYSE Group Inc. (NYX.N) Chief Executive John Thain has denied a report that U.S. regulators were probing trading glitches at the Big Board earlier this week and dismissed speculation he could leave the exchange, an analyst said, citing a conference call on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday the Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with matter, reported the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into whether a shift at the NYSE toward electronic trading affected its ability to handle a surge in trading volume such as occurred earlier this week.

But on a conference call with analysts, Thain denied the SEC investigation, as well as rumors he was leaving the exchange, Prudential Equity Group's Rob Rutschow said in a note to clients.

Recent rumors of Thain's departure were sparked by the Big Board's appointment on Monday of Duncan Niederauer, a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS.N) managing director, to president and co-chief operating officer.

Niederauer was seen a potential successor to Thain, who has been rumored to be interested in running a large bank such as Citigroup (C.N).

Thain was previously president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs and had suggested he could leave the exchange by 2009.

On the conference call, Thain said the NYSE does not expect to close the floor in the foreseeable future, according to Rutschow.

The Big Board has recently shifted much of its trading away from the floor to an electronic platform.

NYSE is also looking to expand its equities business globally and its derivatives options business domestically, possibly through acquisitions, Rutschow wrote, citing Brazil, China, India and Japan as potential targets.