Tokyo Stock Exchange to resume transactions on Friday after hardware glitch forces trading suspension for the entire day
- A director of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said the market will resume trading on Friday
- Buying and selling of securities were frozen on the first day of the new quarter just as key economic data was being published
The Tokyo Stock Exchange halted trading for the entire day Thursday on a hardware breakdown, freezing buying and selling in thousands of companies in the worst-ever outage for the world’s third-largest bourse.
Japan Exchange Group, the operator of the TSE, said the problem occurred due to a failed switch over to backups following a hardware breakdown. The exchange will replace hardware and restart its system Thursday, aiming to resume trading as normal on Friday, TSE President Koichiro Miyahara said in a press conference in Tokyo. The exchange said it would notify investors around 7:30pm local time Thursday if it was ready to restart Friday.
“We have caused great inconvenience to many market participants, investors and listed companies,” said Miyahara. “We will take thorough steps to prevent a recurrence.”
The issue damps investor sentiment following a positive US stock market performance overnight and closures in other major markets in the region, including China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan for public holidays.
It also comes on the first day of a new quarter and of the second half of Japan’s fiscal year, when trading volumes would typically be high as many funds adjust their positions. One of Japan’s most closely watched economic indicators, the Bank of Japan’s Tankan survey, was also released just 10 minutes before trading was set to begin.