What happened
NYSE American Options, one of 20 U.S. options exchanges, reported a technical issue and halted trading in options tied to several well known stocks. As a result of the issue, trading was halted on two matching engines, TXN 4 and TXN 6, which in aggregate process options for 431 securities, per a Bloomberg analysis of the exchange's notice. The exchange first said it was investigating at 10:17 a.m. in New York.
Market response
Exchanges including Cboe Global Markets Inc., Nasdaq Inc. and Miami International Holdings Inc. said they are disregarding quotes coming from NYSE American Options. Normally, options venues avoid filling orders at a worse price than one shown elsewhere, but that practice can be set aside when systems fail. A Bloomberg Intelligence update carried the headline, The Second Largest Options Exchange Was Down Today.
When market infrastructure highlights potential vulnerabilities, get clear context fast with the free Market Briefs delivered each morning.
The bottom line for your portfolio
"NYSE American Options continues to experience issues in all underlying symbols on TXNs 4 and 6, which will remain suspended for the remainder of the day," the venue said, adding, "Cancellation of pending orders and quotes on TXN 4 remains in progress." The exchange represents over one-tenth of the more than 70 million U.S. equity options contracts traded each day, and, shortly after 2 p.m., it announced it would remain closed for the remainder of Friday.
Markets move for many reasons, so sign up for our free Market Briefs newsletter to stay informed in minutes.
