(Bloomberg) — The Philippine Stock Exchange is working to resolve a problem with its trading system and restart operations, according to exchange president Ramon Monzon.
The bourse had to suspend trading after 43 brokers were unable to connect to its trading system, Monzon said in a text message to Bloomberg News.
Under exchange protocol, if a third or more of its brokers are unable to connect, trading has to be halted, he added. The bourse’s trading platform and front-end system providers are “troubleshooting their respective systems to pinpoint the problem and devise a solution.”
The bourse notified brokers at 9:10 a.m. local time that the pre-open phase of trading was delayed, without specifying a cause. The exchange did not issue an advisory when trading did not open at 9:30 a.m. as normally scheduled.
Absent any comment from the exchange, the delay caused anxiety to many investors and market participants who were left guessing what happened, said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at BDO Unibank Inc. Monzon’s statement “has cleared the problem and lessened market anxiety.”
The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 1.1% to 7,041.27 on Monday, its worst start to a year since 2016 as the nation’s capital region returned to stricter mobility curbs to contain re-surging Covid-19 infections.
(Adds analyst’s comment in fifth paragraph)
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