A software glitch on the Nasdaq exchange prevented three of the largest electronic stock trading networks from publishing stock quotations part of Tuesday and Wednesday.
But the glitch didn't dampen the market's performance, particularly for initial public offerings.
Between Tuesday evening and early Wednesday afternoon, two of the largest electronic communications networks for posting quotes and processing trades for the Nasdaq exchange were unable to publish quotations.
Nasdaq officials blamed the glitch on technical troubles in implementing a new software program for tracking quotations. The system was repaired early Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
In the meantime, scores of investors were unable to access real-time stock quotes.
Those affected included Gordon Brooks, president and chief executive of Breakaway Solutions, which had its IPO on Wednesday. Brooks recalls trying to track his company's performance, but getting a blank screen:
"It was like watching paint dry for a little while, while we were waiting for it to come up," he said. "But I think everything worked out fine for us."
Breakaway, which provides consulting and back-end support for Internet businesses, more than tripled in first-day trading Wednesday. The company priced shares at US$14 and saw its stock price soar as high as $71 before closing at $42.25.
The Nasdaq snafu also didn't seem to dampen investor interest in Silicon Image, which saw its share price more than double in its stock market debut. Shares of the Silicon Valley company, which makes equipment for connecting computers and digital video screens, zoomed up from an intitial offering price of $12 to close at $26.75.
Nasdaq officials said that Island ECN, Instinet, and BRUT, the electronic networks affected by the software snafu had service restored between 12:37 p.m. and 1:04 p.m., EST.
The software troubles coincided with an unusually upbeat day on Wall Street.
Based on early and unofficial data the Dow Jones industrial average closed up 188 points, or 1.81 percent, at 10,588, the day's high. The Nasdaq composite index also closed at its high for the day, up 57 points, or 2.05 percent, at 2857.
