Abstract: A method and system in a superscalar data processing system are disclosed for the efficient processing of an instruction by moving only pointers to data. Multiple instructions in the superscalar data processing system are processed during a single clock cycle. A determination is made whether one of these instructions is a particular type of instruction which specifies data to be moved or copied from a logical origination location to a logical destination location during processing of the instruction. In response to a determination that the instruction is a particular type of instruction, a first pointer field is established associated with the instruction for associating a pointer stored in the first pointer field with the logical origination location. A second pointer field is also established associated with the instruction for associating a pointer stored in the second pointer field with the logical destination location.