Technical issue stops trading on NYSE Euronext bourse for 1 hour

Reuters
The exterior of the New York Stock Exchange is pictured with the American national flag, in New York, October 14, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

PARIS (Reuters) - Trade on the NYSE Euronext pan-European stock market was suspended for nearly an hour on Tuesday because of a technical problem that forced traders to place orders offline. The shutdown at 1115 GMT came a few minutes after the bourse announced it was switching to so-called 'pre-market mode' due to a "critical alert on its cash market" related to an unspecified technical problem. While traders were able to place, modify and cancel orders, prices were not set. Trading subsequently resumed at 1210 GMT for stocks and bonds and at 1315 GMT for certificates and ETFs. NYSE Euronext declined to comment on the incident. In 2011, NYSE Euronext had a series of technical incidents including one in which the operator suspended Euronext indices for more than an hour and a half due to a problem with one of its programmes. (Reporting By Nicholas Vinocur; Editing by Jane Merriman)