US stocks briefly halted over technical issue

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Trading of some US stocks was briefly halted due to a technical issue on Tuesday, according to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Shortly after the opening bell at 9.30 a.m. EDT (1430GMT), stock trading for dozens of companies was briefly halted, such as communications giants AT&T and Verizon, financial services companies Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, and movie theater chain AMC Entertainment.

While trading resumed for some companies as early as 9.40 a.m. EDT, all systems were operational as of 9.48 a.m. EDT, the NYSE said in a statement.

"The exchange continues to investigate issues with today's opening auction. In a subset of symbols, opening auctions did not occur. The exchange is working to clarify the list of symbols," it added.

The Dow Jones was up 7 points, or 0.02%, to 33,636 at 11.53 a.m. EDT, but the S&P 500 was down 5 points, or 0.13% to 4,014 at the time.