Trading on the TSX and TMX’s other exchanges has been halted for the rest of the day as TMX investigates an order entry problem on its exchanges.

“A technical halt has been declared on TSX, TSXV & TSX Alpha,” said TMX in a statement posted to Twitter.

“In order to allow Participants to manage their orders, the market will remain in a Pre-Open state until further notice. Once an Opening Time has been determined a further update will be issued.”

On Twitter, TMX said new orders can’t be entered and open orders can’t be changed or cancelled. TMX added that is is investigating the issue and “will provide sufficient time in a pre-open state for Participants to manage their orders” prior to re-opening.

The halts started around 1:50 pm EST.

Before the halt, the TSX (^GSPTSE) dropped 324.48 points or 1.9% to 16,717.44 today — another down day for global stock markets in the face of fears over COVID-19. It was down even more earlier in the day.

The Montreal Exchange has also placed a halt on trading.

“Please be aware that the Montréal Exchange will halt trading on all Equity Derivative Instruments and place all instruments in a pre opening state,” it said in a statement posted to Twitter.

“Participants can cancel or modify orders.”

The TSX is down around 6.7 per cent from its all-time closing high of 17,925.40 reached Feb. 19.





Jessy Bains is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jessysbains.

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