ASX delays opening due to technical glitch

New Australian Stock Exchange CEO Dominic Stevens (R) appears at a photo call with ASX Chairman Rick Holliday-Smith after the announcement of Stevens' appointment to the position in Sydney, Australia, August 1, 2016. Reuters/Jason Reed

The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) did not open on Monday morning, Sept 19, because of a technical glitch. Before the delay, the Australian market was tipped to open flat.

ABC reports that as of 10:30 am, screens were still blank across trading floors while the exchange continues to work to fix the problem. As ASX spokesman explains the delay in the opening of the equities market is because of an issue with a component which allows the bourse to manage individual stocks.

In a statement, ASX assured shareholders, “ASX is working to rectify the issue and open the market in an orderly manner as soon as possible.”

ASX usually has a staggered opening from 10 am, however, on Monday morning, the “enquire” status showed up on all ASX-listed stocks. As of 10:52 am, according to an update, the “enquire” status remains and it advised the public would remain in place “until further notice.”

Chi-X, the competitor bourse, also delayed its operations because of the ASX technical glitch. A similar incident hit the ASX in February 2014 for 30 minutes in the afternoon. In 2011, a longer glitch happened twice, costing the bourse billions of dollars in turnover which were lost.

The first occurred on Feb 28, 2011 when ASX went offline for about 90 minutes. The second was on Oct 27 for about four hours which affected morning and early afternoon trade.

VIDEO: Glitch brings ASX to standstill