Technical glitch abruptly halts Nasdaq trading

Trading in shares of more than 3,000 US companies listed by Nasdaq, including Google, Apple and Microsoft, was abruptly halted shortly after midday yesterday because of a technical problem, the latest black eye for the US securities trading business.

All traffic through Nasdaq stopped at 12.14pm, the exchange said on its website, citing a problem distributing stock price quotes. A source familiar with the matter described the problem as a “data feed issue”.

Rival exchanges halted trading of Nasdaq-listed shares shortly afterward at the request of Nasdaq, the second-biggest US stock exchange operator.