- Trading was halted across many of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s markets on Friday.
- The massive exchange operator blamed a “cooling issue” at a partner’s data center.
- The issue was resolved, and at 7:30 a.m. local time, trading of futures and options resumed.
Trading across the majority of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s markets ground to a halt for several hours after a cooling problem at one of its data centers.
“Due to a cooling issue at CyrusOne data centers, our markets are currently halted,” CME Group posted on X late on Thursday night, adding that it was “working to resolve” the issue.
By around 8:20 a.m. ET, the issue was seemingly resolved. CME Group posted on X that markets, including BrokerTec EU and BrokerTec US Actives, were “open and trading,” and futures and options trading would commence at 7:30 a.m. local time.
The CME is the world’s largest exchange operator by market value, powering the trade of stocks, commodities, currencies, and other assets, meaning the halt had the potential to cause substantial issues across global financial markets.
Though resolved, the halt could result in greater volatility during the shortened trading session later on Friday, as even thinner holiday trading than usual could lead to steeper price swings.