Tokyo Stock Exchange grinds to a halt in worst outage for 21 years
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) shut down for an entire day’s trading in its worst outage since 1999.
TSE operator Japan Exchange Group blames the outage on faulty hardware
The exchange announced the shutdown at 9 am local time, adding later that all trading would be halted for the entire day.
TSE operator, Japan Exchange Group, has released a statement saying the issue will be fixed in time for trading on Friday.
Japan Exchange Group blames the shutdown on unspecified hardware responsible for relaying market information. When that equipment failed, a backup failed to take its place.
The outage is the first to affect all listed stocks on the TSE since 2005. Exchanges in Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo were also affected by the downtime.
All four exchanges use cash equity systems built by Fujitsu.
Government spokesperson Katsunobu Kato called the issues “very regrettable” in a press conference. He added that the exchange is taking actions to solve the problem and restore trading.
According to data from the World Federation of Exchanges, the TSE runs the world’s third-largest equity market in 2019. It operates nearly $6.2 trillion worth of stocks and lists 3,700 companies.
Kato says the shutdown shows no indication of foul play, or the trademarks of a cyber-attack.
The New Zealand stock exchange halted trading for three days in August after a targeted cyber-attack left systems down.
Network connectivity issues caused the exchange to shut down trading in its cash markets at 11:10 am local time.
NZX took the decision to keep its main board, debt markets and shareholders market closed, and to shut down the derivatives market.
