Trading on Deutsche Börse-owned derivatives exchange Eurex was briefly suspended on Thursday after the DAX Futures (FDAX) index suddenly dropped 2%.
The exchange operator said its systems responded to sudden volatility by suspending trading and were able to resume trading minutes later.
The sudden fall in the price of FDAX happened at 13:45, immediately after the European Central Bank’s latest interest rate setting decision, where it opted to hold rates at 0.25%, which had been widely expected by market participants.
Reasons for the sudden price movement are unclear, though Deutsche Börse told theTRADEnews.com that it employs an order logic checking system, which should rule out the possibility of a so called ‘fat finger’ trade, where a trader accidentally inputs the wrong numbers on their screen.
Deutsche Börse said it had received a number of requests for trades to be rendered void, but ruled that these would stand.
The exchange said its systems stepped in to control the volatility and functioned as intended. After a two-minute trading suspension, trading via auction began to allow prices to stabilise.