When markets go dark: 8 reasons for exchange shutdowns

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When the trading floor goes dark

The Nasdaq, the US’s second-largest stock exchange, halted trading for three hours in the middle of the day on Thursday, the latest in a string of technological snafus for stock markets — and the Nasdaq in particular.
The Nasdaq — where companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Intel list their stock — didn’t reopen for trading until about 35 minutes before the market closed. Some saw the trading shutdown as yet another blow to already-fragile investor sentiment, adding to distrust in markets that has been fueled by other recent snafus.
It’s not the first time an exchange has shut down. Natural disasters, presidential assassinations, terrorism, societal unrest, panic-induced selloffs and even squirrels have shuttered exchanges around the globe. Take a look.