Berkshire Hathaway resumes trade after NYSE glitch showed shares down 99.97%

By William Watts

NYSE says it resolved technical issue that resulted in trading halts for several companies

The New York Stock Exchange on Monday morning said it resolved a technical problem that resulted in the halt of trading in stocks of several high-profile companies, including Class A shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

The shares resumed trading before midday Monday after a lengthy trading halt that appeared to show them changing hands for as low as $185.10, a drop of 99.97%. Experts said any trades actually executed at that level would almost certainly be invalidated.

Trading in the Berkshire shares (BRK.A) was halted at 9:50 a.m. ET. The first trade after resumption occurred at $648,000, up 3.3% on the day, for 1,476 shares at 11:35 a.m.

Shares of Barrick Gold (GOLD), Chipotle (CMG) and several others were also halted, with some showing precipitous price declines.

The NYSE said it was working to resolve a "technical issue" as stocks were halted, it later said the issue surrounded Limit-Up Limit Down, or LULD, bands, that are designed to halt extraordinary volatility and extreme price moves in individual stocks.

The NYSE at 11:40 a.m. said it had resolved the issue.

"A technical issue with industry-wide price bands published by the [Consolidated Tape Association Security Information Processor) triggered halts in a number of stocks listed on the NYSE Group exchanges this morning. Impacted stocks have since reopened (or are in the process of reopening) and the price bands issue has been resolved," the NYSE said.

Meanwhile, the broader stock market stumbled, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA off nearly 400 points, or 1%, while the S&P 500 SPX declined 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP edged down 0.3%.

-William Watts

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06-03-24 1301ET

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