When Tech problems halted trading on New York Stock Exchange

by Benson Agoha | International

There was a halt in trading for more than two hours on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday. Technical glitches were blamed for the full wide halt in trading.

Traders work on the floor of the 

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

on September 25, 2014 in New York City.

SPENCER PLATT/GETTY IMAGES

It happened at 11.32am ET and although the display boards were showing stocks and movements, it was only because many of the companies listed on the Stock Exchange reportedly have multiple listings.

Fox News update said there was additional report that the Wall Street Journal was also experiencing difficulties with their websites. United Airlines also had issues, reports say.

According to Fox News "Trading on the New York Stock Exchange was halted around noon after officials reported a major technical issue just a few hours after a major computer issue forced United Airlines to temporarily stop all takeoffs, and the Wall Street Journal confirmed that its website was experiencing technical difficulties."

But the issue that forced the stoppage of trading at the NYSE was rectified and it reopened two hours later.

It was not the first time. The NYSE, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange and is the world’s largest stock exchange based on market capitalization, has experienced technical difficulties in the past. However, Wednesday’s issue by all accounts was out of the ordinary.

But suspicions that the NYSE was being compromised was dashed when the NYSE tweeted that the issue was internal and not a breach. "The issue we are experiencing is an internal technical issue and is not the result of a cyber breach," the exchange tweeted. "We chose to suspend trading on NYSE to avoid problems arising from our technical issue."