Tokyo trading stops over system failure, China on holiday

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said that all trading was stopped because of the problem, and will not resume for the rest of the day. The S&P 500 hit its low for the day just after Pelosi said she and Mnuchin “found areas where we are seeking further clarification,” though she said talks will continue. By the end of trading, momentum had returned, and the S&P 500 rose 0.8 per cent to 3,363.00.

Trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information. Most other Asian markets were closed for national holidays. The Tokyo Stock Exchange said that all trading was stopped because of the problem, and will not resume for the rest of the day. It was unclear when it would be resolved and the system would be operating again.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.6 percent by midday to 5,909.40. Trading was closed in South Korea and China for national holidays. Details on the Tokyo trading problems were not immediately available. Japan's nationally circulated Asahi newspaper, without citing sources, said the cause was likely a mechanical failure.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange is the world's third-largest bourse after the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, with a market capitalization of nearly USD 6 trillion. Previous outages occurred when the "arrowhead" system created by Fujitsu to handle its electronic trading became overwhelmed with too many orders at one time.

That's what happened on October 9, 2018, according to a release on the TSE's website. But during that disruption, some backup systems for trading continued to function. The exchange promised to investigate, conduct malfunction tests, and change the system to ensure that a flood of orders would not cause the entire system to stop working. Several top executives of the exchange were penalized.

On Wall Street, prospects for additional support from Congress for the economy helped drive the day's trading, as they have for weeks. The S&P 500 shot to a gain of as much as 1.7 percent after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke positively on CNBC before his afternoon talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — their first face-to-face meeting in more than a month in a last-ditch effort to seal a tentative accord on an additional round of coronavirus relief. But the gains nearly vanished as pessimism rose about Washington's ability to put aside partisanship and send economic aid that investors say is crucial. The S&P 500 hit its low for the day just after Pelosi said she and Mnuchin "found areas where we are seeking further clarification," though she said talks will continue.

By the end of trading, momentum had returned, and the S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 3,363.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.2 percent to 27,781.70, and the Nasdaq composite 0.7 percent, to 11,167.51. It was the last day of a strong quarter for the market, where the S&P 500 rallied 8.5 percent to follow up on its 20% surge in the spring.