Technical fault sees Berkshire Hathaway shares plunge
A glitch at the New York Stock Exchange triggered massive swings in the shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold, and trading halts in dozens of other companies on Monday, before the bourse fixed the problem. NYSE, owned by Intercontinental Exchange, by late morning said on its website it had resolved a reported technical issue and that the impacted stocks had resumed trading. At least 60 stocks listed on the NYSE were halted due to volatility and some stocks showed unusual outsized movements. Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold shares were shown to be down 99.97 percent and 98.54 percent, respectively, due to the technical issue, before those trades were corrected. NYSE said the problem was related to Limit Up-Limit Down bands meant to prevent extraordinary market volatility and extreme price movements in individual stock by preventing trades outside of specific price ranges that are updated throughout the trading day. The price band for each security is set at a percentage level above and below its average price in the preceding five-minutes. The bands were developed as part of the response by financial regulators and exchanges to the "flash crash" of 2010, which wiped out nearly US$1 trillion in market capitalisation in a few minutes. Technical issues on exchanges can hit markets, impact traders' confidence and attract scrutiny from regulators. "I don't think the overall market is reacting," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Financial. (Reuters)