NATION : Futures, Options Markets Halted

The five New York futures and options markets halted trading and closed early today after a communications glitch prevented price-data distribution to customers.

The 11:20 a.m. EDT trading halt brought action in the nation’s major oil and metals trading pits to a standstill after the exchanges discovered that no price quotes were leaving the building.

“The high-speed futures line is dead,” said Tom Crisalli, an operations employee with the Commodity Exchange Corp., which oversees the five futures markets.

After failing to resolve the problem, the exchanges shut down at 2 p.m. They gave traders five to 10 minutes to close out trading positions before going home early. The regular closing times for the commodities traded at the exchanges run from 2:20 p.m. until after 3 p.m.