A glitch at the New York Stock Exchange prevented the opening auctions for more than 250 stock symbols yesterday morning, prompting widespread trading halts and creating confusion over whether orders were being filled at correct prices.
The NYSE said a “system issue” prevented the opening auctions in a subset of its listed securities, including blue chips like Walmart and McDonald’s.
What We Know About The NYSE’s Trading Glitch
Dozens of stocks opened at prices well above or below their prior day closing prices. Most were halted shortly after the open under rules designed to damp down excessive volatility, and most reopened five to 10 minutes after the open at prices much closer to Monday’s closing prices. Many orders to buy and sell stocks did not make it to the order book that determines the opening price, and the opening action print did not happen in those affected stocks.
Late yesterday, the NYSE made an announcement that some trades that occurred right at the open would be null and void, but others would not. This only added to the confusion.
And this morning, the NYSE issued a statement on what happened: “The root cause was determined to be a manual error involving the Exchange’s Disaster Recovery configuration at system start of day.”
In plain words, it appears they tested a “disaster recovery configuration” that did not involve using the floor, and did not reset.
Many investors are trying to figure out how much money they may have lost.
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#1 Rule to Remember When Markets Turn Volatile
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