Glitch Halts Brazilian Trading
There’s nothing like a computer glitch to bring everything to a screeching halt. That is exactly what happened on the Brazilian stock market on April 22 when their trading was halted for about ninety minutes. The cause was labelled as ‘technical problems’ and trading was extended due to the aggravating glitch. The problem was in the Bovespa exchange system, the largest in Latin America, and while it was more troublesome than anything, it was accepted as natural due to the nature of technology.
The exchange rate was up 0.9 percent when the system shut down and caused a halt in trading. To make up for the glitch, the Sao Paulo exchange extended its trading hours until 2:40pm. They usually stop trading for the day at 1:00pm. Representatives stated that they received the request to continue the extra hour and forty minutes via an e-mail from Bovespa. So far Bovespa’s press office has not released what caused the glitch or even what kind it was that interrupted the day’s trading.