NZX back again after technical mishap

UPDATED / 2.55pm: Publication of prices and announcements resumed on the NZX after a two-hour spell where only market participants could see what was going on and the benchmark stock index climbed to a new record.

Retail investors would not have known the NZX system had failed when the market was due to open at 10am. The first statement came 56 minutes later, saying that as participants had access to live prices, the market "was able to trade as usual".

A spokeswoman for NZX said "issues with the market depth feed" have been resolved. Stock prices began appearing just before noon and the NZX 50 Index was quoted at 4504.126, up 0.5 percent from yesterday's record close of 4483.65.

"The underlying cause of this incident is still under investigation," the spokeswoman said in a statement. "A full investigation will be undertaken and an update provided to the market once completed."

The NZX had offered to put trading halt on any stock that released price-sensitive announcements.

Trading on the NZX is drawing more interest from the public as the selldown of Mighty River Power looms.

(BusinessDesk)

11.20am: Stock exchange operator NZX is urgently working to fix a technical glitch that has left retail investors without market information, though trading is open for official market participants with access to live prices.

The Wellington-based company is "experiencing difficulty with its market data feed", meaning it cannot provide market announcements or price information to the wider market. Because market participants, such as broking firms, have access to live prices and information trading can continue as usual.

"However, if NZX receives any price sensitive announcements, NZX will halt trading in the relevant securities, which will remain in halt until the issue has been resolved," the company says in a statement.

"The issue is being urgently investigated by NZX's operational team and we will provide updates as soon as they are available."

Investors rely on access to information, including bid and ask prices for stocks and new announcements as they come in, when buying and selling listed securities.

The NZX launched the NASDAQ OMX X-stream trading platform last November as it looks to branch out into new securities trading, including derivatives and commodities.

The stock exchange had a major IT glitch in 2010 when failures in multiple hardware services disrupted index feeds until midday, meaning index pricing, such as the benchmark NZX 50 Index, was not available in morning trading.

(BusinessDesk)

10.40am: Technical issues at NZX have kept investors in the dark, with no market announcements being published on the stock exchange operator's website and Reuters and Bloomberg services not showing trading action.

The stock exchange has not published any new market announcements on its public website today because of technical issues though trading is open, an NZX spokeswoman says.

It was unclear whether that was behind Reuters and Bloomberg terminals not showing any trading action, and if that extends to IRESS products.

The stock exchange expects to make a formal announcement shortly.

Investors rely on access to information, including bid and ask prices for stocks and new announcements as they come in, when buying and selling listed securities.

The NZX launched the NASDAQ OMX X-stream trading platform last November as it looks to branch out into new securities trading, including derivatives and commodities.

(BusinessDesk)