Worst outage in eight years stops exchange

LONDON traders were left twiddling their thumbs yesterday morning after a glitch meant they were unable to buy or sell shares in the UK’S largest companies.

Trading on the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 began more than an hour and a half late, as a software issue caused the biggest outage in eight years at the 300-year-old exchange.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), which operates the bourse, said a “technical software issue” had “affected trading in certain securities”.

Business resumed just before 10am. LSE said the issue was related to timelimited trading instructions failing to leave the system after lapsing, risking accidental trades. It is the second time trading has been delayed in a little over a year, after an hour’s halt in June 2018.

The delay yesterday was the longest since 2011, when the exchange remained closed until early afternoon. In all three instances, software was blamed. The only way some users could make trades was to fly blind, using futures data for guidance instead of underlying stock prices.

The timing is awkward for the LSE, which recently announced its intention to become a major player in financial information through a $27bn (£22bn) tie-up with data giant Refinitiv.

“There is no hiding from this one, the two-hour delay to open is an embarrassment for LSE and raises plenty of questions over the group’s technology,” said Fiona Cincotta, an analyst at City Index. “LSE’S reputation as one of the most reliable stock exchanges in Europe is starting to be questioned.”

Gil Hecht, chief executive of IT firm Continuity Software, suggested such glitches “only happen due to human error. There is simply no other way”.

He said the LSE may have encountered a fresh bug or it could be a problems with its IT infrastructure, which should be designed to keep systems online all of the time, he added.