NEW YORK (REUTERS)
A technical glitch in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) that resulted in massive swings in the shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold was resolved.
NYSE declared that it had resolved a reported 'technical issue' adding that the affected stocks had resumed trading.
Notably, a minimum of 60 stocks were halted due to volatility and certain stocks showed unusual outsized movements.
Among the most impacted were Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold, whose shares were shown to have dropped 99.97 percent and 98.54 percent, respectively. This came as a result of the glitch, which has been resolved.
According to the NYSE, the issue was related to Limit Up-Limit Down bands which are supposed to prevent extraordinary market volatility and extreme price movements in individual stock by preventing trades outside of specific price ranges that are updated during the trading day.
Notably, the price band for each security is set at a percentage level above and below its average price in the preceding five-minutes.
These bands have been developed as part of the response by financial regulators and exchanges to the 'flash crash' of 2010, which wiped out nearly $1 trillion in market capitalisation in a matter of minutes.