NYSE Adjusts Circuit Breaker

The New York Stock Exchange said it will take an 800-point intra-day drop in the Dow Jones industrial average to halt trading in the market this quarter, down from 900 points last quarter. The change took effect Thursday.

An 800-point intra-day drop in the Dow would halt trading for one hour if the decline occurs before 2 p.m., for 30 minutes if before 2:30 p.m., and have no effect between 2:30 and 4 p.m.

The loss threshold is changed quarterly. The NYSE now determines how much it will allow the Dow to fall before halting trading by setting 10%, 20% and 30% decline levels from the previous month’s average Dow close.

Market halts also would kick in at 1,600 and 2,350 daily point declines.