An overload of orders causing Tokyo Stock Exchange to halt all trading 20 minutes early

The Tokyo Stock Exchange reported that it will halt all share trading 20 minutes earlier than usual (0540GMT), due to an overload of orders. The bourse issued a warning earlier Wednesday that it could stop trading if share transactions hit the limit of the system's processing capacity of 4 million transactions.

It was not clear at that moment how many transactions were made as of Wednesday afternoon.

Trading volume, a different measure, is usually a far higher number because each transaction typically involves many shares, reports the AP.

D.M.