Nasdaq Trading Halted Due To Computer Glitch

Please upgrade your web browser

We no longer check to see whether Sky News displays properly in Internet Explorer version 6 or earlier.

To see our content at its best we recommend upgrading if you wish to continue using Internet Explorer or using another browser such as Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.

See more information about browsers and a list of browsers to choose from.

This website uses cookies. Cookies remember you so we can give you a better service online. By using this website or closing this message you are agreeing to our cookies notice. Cookies FAQs.

ADTECH_showAd( 4037570, document, false);

2:05pm UK, Friday 23 August 2013 The Nasdaq stock exchange in New York City

By Sky News US Team, in New York

The latest high-tech disruption in the financial markets has increased pressure on Nasdaq and other electronic exchanges to take steps to avoid future breakdowns.

A three-hour trading outage on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday is expected to trigger new rounds of regulatory scrutiny on computer-driven trading, as investors' shaky confidence in the markets takes another hit.

Trading in the Nasdaq, a major stock exchange dominated by the biggest names in technology, suffered the outage after a "technical glitch".

The disruption sent brokers scurrying to figure out what went wrong and raised new questions about the pitfalls of computer-driven stock trading.

Other US exchanges continued trading normally.

Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld said that unspecified, external factors caused the glitch, and that the exchange followed all the proper procedures to correct the problem.

Facebook's float on the Nasdaq was hit by glitches

"We all have to be aware of the other person not acting always in the proper way, and you have to have your system be able to handle defensive driving," Mr Greifeld said.

"We're deeply disappointed with what happened yesterday. We aspire to perfection. We want to get to 100% up time."

The Nasdaq freeze echoed earlier stock market problems, such as the sudden plunge in stocks in May 2010 that came to be known as the "flash crash" and the glitch-plagued initial public offering of Facebook last year.

The exchange sent out an alert to traders saying that trading was being halted until further notice because of problems with a quote dissemination system.

Nasdaq said it would not cancel any open orders on Thursday, but that customers could cancel orders if they wanted to.

Securities and Exchange Commission spokesman John Nester said: "We are monitoring the situation and are in close contact with the exchanges."

(function(d){ var js, ref = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; js = d.createElement('script'); js.id = 'outbrainjs'; js.async = true; js.src = "//widgets.outbrain.com/outbrain.js"; ref.parentNode.insertBefore(js, ref); }(document));

ADTECH_showAd( 4037573, document, false);ADTECH_showAd( 4037571, document, false); pluckAppProxy.registerActivityCallback('CommentsRendered', function () { web.Tools.pluckRenderedCallback(); }); pluckAppProxy.registerActivityCallback('CommentsRefresh', function () { web.Tools.pluckRenderedCallback(); }); pluckAppProxy.embedApp("pluck/comments", { plckCommentOnKeyType: "article", plckCommentOnKey: "1132091", plckSort: "TimeStampDescending"}); DM_tag();

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Fonterra says China-bound milk powder halted in May for high nitrite

1 of 3. New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully is seen behind Chinese and New Zealand flags during a group interview in Beijing August 22, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Petar Kujundzic

By Naomi Tajitsu and Megha Rajagopalan

WELLINGTON/BEIJING | Thu Aug 22, 2013 7:15am EDT

WELLINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - New Zealand's Fonterra, the world's biggest dairy exporter, caught up in a contamination scandal this month, said on Thursday it was also forced to withdraw 42 tons of milk powder bound for China because of high nitrite levels.

Dairy products account for about a quarter of New Zealand's export earnings, and China is its biggest buyer of milk powder.

The high nitrite levels were first brought up by the official China Daily in late July and have dealt another blow to the company after it announced this month that it had found bacteria that could cause food poisoning in some products.

Fonterra had to apologize for a milk powder contamination scare in China after contaminated whey protein concentrate had been sold to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Saudi Arabia, and used in products including infant milk powder and sports drinks.

The company said on Thursday a shipment of powder had also been halted at the Chinese border in May after tests showed nitrite levels higher than allowed in China, although it had been approved for export after testing in New Zealand.

Nitrites occur naturally in water, soil and food and can be used as fertilizers and preservatives. Excessively high levels can be toxic.

Fonterra's group director of food safety and quality, Ian Palliser, said the milk powder showed nitrite levels of between 1.4 parts per million and 1.8 ppm when it was shipped from New Zealand, but showed higher levels in Chinese tests.

"The limit is 2 parts per million in China and the product tested at somewhere between 2.4 ppm and 2.8 ppm," Palliser told Radio New Zealand.

He added that China had a much lower threshold for nitrite levels than New Zealand, where levels of up to 5 ppm are considered safe for domestic consumption. The levels were "not a food safety issue whatsoever", Palliser said.

"The levels were below the New Zealand standards. This product could have been sold safely in New Zealand."

Fonterra said it had been in full control of the affected product and none of it had reached the retail supply chain.

Wellington has voiced frustrations over Fonterra's foot dragging in disclosing the contamination issue, and during a visit to China on Thursday, Foreign Minister Murray McCully sought to distance the country from Fonterra's woes.

"Fonterra has some work ahead of it in rebuilding Chinese consumer confidence," he told reporters in Beijing after meetings with State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

"We expect from our exporters that there should not be any mistakes ... When Fonterra disappoints customers, they also disappoint New Zealand."

Yang, in meetings with McCully, urged New Zealand to improve food safety, Chinese state media reported.

"We hope the New Zealand side will appropriately handle food safety issues, including the safety of dairy products, exported to China, and substantially ensure Chinese consumers' interests," Yang said, according to official newswire Xinhua.

Fonterra's much smaller competitor, Westland Milk Products, had export certificates revoked this week for a small quantity of the protein lactoferrin because unacceptable levels of nitrates were discovered in four consignments.

(Editing by Nick Macfie and Clarence Fernandez)

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.