Tokyo Stock Exchange Halts Trading For Entire Day Over Technical Glitches

The Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday halted trading of stocks for an entire day, as it suffered technical glitches.

What Happened: This the first such instance in the Japanese exchange desk's history since it adopted an electronic trading system in 1999, according to the Financial Times.

TSE said in a statement "restoration is currently undecided" and it remains unsure whether trading would resume as usual on Friday.

Nagoya Stock Exchange, Fukuoka Stock Exchange, and the Sapporo Securities Exchange were also affected. All the exchanges that faced a setback operate on the cash equity trading system built by the Japanese tech company Fujitsu Ltd FJTSY. 

Derivatives trading on the Osaka exchange continued, as it operates on a different platform altogether.

A Japanese Exchange Group spokesperson refuted the possibility of a cyberattack, while Fujitsu was still investigating the reason for this technological setback, FT reported.

Why Does It Matter: The impact of the forced market closure affected over 2,500 listed stocks as well as investors with strategies in place for portfolio rebalancing, according to FT. The Japanese follow a financial calendar from April 1 to March 31, and Oct. 1 marks the start of the third quarter as well as the second half of the financial year.

Typically, fund managers adjust their portfolio allocations and weightage at this time of the year.

With the uncertainty over Friday’s trading session, market strategists are expecting high volatility levels once the trading commences.