The Nasdaq Stock Market® announced yesterday that it experienced its heaviest trading session ever, with preliminary figures showing that nearly 2.9 billion shares changed hands. It was a session during which the Nasdaq Composite® Index endured an intra-day swing of 634 points, and the Nasdaq stock quotation system processed a record 6.5 million quote updates, eclipsing the previous record of 5.8 million. ,P>
Richard Ketchum, President of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®)-parent of Nasdaq-said this about today's events: "While there were capacity-related delays in SelectNet®, we are delighted with the way our systems performed under extraordinary circumstances. Those systems utilized by Market Makers and electronic communications networks (ECNs) also generally performed in an admirable manner."
Due to extremely heavy trading activity, SelectNet began experiencing update delays shortly after 2 p.m., Eastern Time. The situation was resolved by 3:15 p.m. Trading continued uninterrupted during the record heavy trading period. Quotations remained timely throughout the day.
The Nasdaq Stock Market lists nearly 5,000 companies, has a larger dollar volume, and trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. Nasdaq is a subsidiary of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States. For more information about Nasdaq, visit the Nasdaq Web site at www.nasdaq.com or the Nasdaq NewsroomSM at www.nasdaqnews.com.
