Thomson Reuters NewsScope Direct offers microsecond delivery of "highly structured news and economic data", enabling high-frequency and algorithmic traders to buy and sell before the information moves the market, says the vendor.

Housed in the firm's London and Chicago hosting centres, the service means customers can connect to the newsfeed from their own centres or tap Thomson Reuters' proximity hosting offering. The service, primarily aimed at FX and futures traders, is already available in New York.

Rich Brown, global business manager, machine readable news, Thomson Reuters, says: "Being first to act on this information can dramatically affect a firm's profit and loss. The launch of NewsScope Direct, the market's fastest machine readable news service, into London and Chicago reflects our commitment to delivering the market moving information our clients need at the speed required by their high performance trading strategies."

The provision of market-moving news and information in a machine-readable format has become a key battleground for market data firms as increasing volumes of stocks are executed by computer algorithms.

In December Thomson Reuters expanded its offering to include real-time analysis of company events while Deutsche Börse recently acquired machine-readable data specialist Need to Know News.