Nasdaq Options Market halted, closed for day

[November 02, 2013]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The Nasdaq shut down trading on one of its options markets Friday, the latest technical problem to hit the exchange.

Nasdaq OMX said it halted trading at 10:36 a.m. Eastern Time and announced at 2:10 p.m. that it would shut down options trading for the rest of the day. Regular stock trading on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange was not affected.

Nasdaq decided to halt the options market after it saw a surge in orders, which caused the system to stop accepting orders and disseminating quotes, according to a statement from Nasdaq,

The Nasdaq operates two other options markets -- BX Options and Philadelphia-based PHLX. Those exchanges were not affected by Friday's halt.

The exchange did not say when options trading would resume.

A stock option gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at a fixed price in the future.

The shutdown is the latest glitch at the exchange. Nasdaq indexes weren't updated for about 45 minutes on Tuesday because of a technical problem. On Aug. 22, trading was halted on the Nasdaq Stock Market for three hours because of a separate technical glitch.

[Associated Press; By KEN SWEET]

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