Euronext says cash mkts in pre-opening mode
15/12/2004 09:25
PARIS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Lisbon stock exchanges switched to pre-opening mode around 0900 GMT but the opening time was still not known, pan-European bourse operator said on Wednesday.
It blamed the opening delay on a breakdown of an electronic network component.
((Reporting by Marie Maitre, Juliette Rouillon
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UPDATE 1-Euronext cash mkts opening delayed, traders angry
15/12/2004 09:26
PARIS, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The opening of trade in shares listed on the Euronext exchanges of Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brussels was delayed on Wednesday, angering dealers.
By 0906 GMT, more than an hour after its usual opening time, Euronext still had no indication when trading would start, but said derivatives trading was not affected.
This comes only a week after cash market opening was delayed by 45 minutes on Dec. 6.
Euronext Chief Executive Jean-Francois Theodore had then attributed the delay to a "small technical issue". Wednesday breakdown was due to an "electronic network component breakdown", the exchange said.
Traders, some of whom had recently said Euronext seemed to have more or less overcome its technical snags in recent months, reacted with anger to the latest problems.
"This is another blow for Euronext's reputation. That this happens just ahead of trading and after important news events doesn't exactly make us smile," a trader at an Amsterdam-based broker said.
Some also pointed at a lack of information from Euronext on the technical issues.
"We've had a period before when Euronext was constantly hit by technical problems, but at least they informed us in time about resumptions then. Now things seem to be happening without any communication at all," a trader at a Dutch bank said.
An Antwerp trader was struggling to hold his nerve.
"The number of failures have been relatively low," he said. "But if in two hours we still have technical difficulties, we will be very, very angry. There better not be a third failure (in a row)."
The technical problems come at a sensitive time for Euronext just as the exchange is widely expected to enter a takeover bidding battle for the London Stock Exchange after arch rival Deutsche Boerse offered 1.3 billion pounds for the Europe's largest equity market.
The technical issues were also unlikely to help Euronext fight off rival bourses, such as the LSE, which is attempting to take away market share from Euronext.
The LSE launched a new service to trade in Dutch blue chip shares in may 2004, making inroads in one of Euronext's core markets and forcing Euronext to reduce its fees.
(Additional reporting by Theo Kolker in Amsterdam and Gilles Castonguay in Brussels)
((Reporting by Marie Maitre
Editing by Louise Ireland
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