Four-hour glitch with new technology stops trading on LSE

A MAJOR technical glitch at the London Stock Exchange left investors frustrated yesterday when trading was suspended for more than four hours.

The LSE blamed market data technology issues for the outage, which halted dealings from before the opening bell until 12.15pm, delivering an embarrassing blow to systems - introduced last week.

It is the latest in a string of technical problems at the exchange. Earlier in the week that Italiana - the LSE's Milan platform - had a five-hour outage.

Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the LSE, said: "We sincerely regret the inconvenience that today's disruption to trading has caused our customers."

The City was less than impressed by the latest disruption.

Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, said: "Traders, who still remember the same issues that halted trading for three hours in 2009, and they will undoubtedly be venting fury this morning at the LSE.

"At a time of uncertainty, where traders have to keep on their toes with the situation in Libya, the last thing they need is an unexpected halt to trading."

The LSE's "Millennium Exchange" trading system has suffered a spate of teething problems since it was introduced in the group's smaller Turquoise platform last October.

Trading was suspended for two hours on Turquoise in November, because of glitches on the second day of operation.

It is thought the LSE faces claims that technical problems meant prices were not correctly displayed for some traders last week.

The LSE is coming under pressure from increasing competition. Rolet, who took over as chief executive in May, has led the push for new technology to improve the exchange in the face of rivalry from the likes of Chi-X Europe.

The LSE unveiled a deal to merge with Canada's TMX, which operates the Toronto Stock Exchange, earlier this month.

MARKETS, PAGE 40