By Jeff Patterson
The Moscow Exchange (MOEX) has gone dark for the second time this month, this time after a routine morning software error occurred, according to a MOEX statement.
Following the opening Monday, traders and market participants had reported difficulties withdrawing orders placed in prior periods as well inaccurate order book data for select derivative instruments. Furthermore, orders submitted during the evening session Friday, September 18 were not being processed by the system. Thus, at 10:25 Moscow time (7:25 GMT), MOEX opted to restart its core system to correct a problem, and the decision was taken to halt trading.
By 11:06 Moscow time (8:06 GMT), the exchange’s trading system was restarted and member firms were allowed to cancel orders. Trading itself on MOEX only resumed over an hour later at 11:43 Moscow time (8:43 GMT) for a short window of time before once again going dark.
During the second episode, the exchange halted trading at the request of several market participants who needed more time to calibrate their systems with the MOEX’s. Trading finally resumed for good only at 12:40 Moscow time (9:40 GMT), over two hours after the initial shut down. Trading has since been operating smoothly without hindrance or malfunction.
Earlier this month, trading on the Moscow Exchange was also suspended back on September 2nd following a technical problem related to the network, which resumed 50 minutes later. The list of affected markets extended to equities, bonds, FX, derivatives and money markets.