NYSE, Nasdaq Again Delay Later Tickers

The Nasdaq Stock Market and the New York Stock Exchange have postponed for a second time plans to extend the operation of their stock quote tickers to accommodate after-hours traders.

The tickers provide the stock price information that scrolls across the bottom of television screens and is distributed to millions of investors via the Internet.

Nasdaq on Friday set a new target date of Oct. 25, subject to approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission. An NYSE spokesman said the exchange hasn’t set a date and is awaiting SEC approval of the plan.

The two markets initially planned to extend their ticker hours Monday this week. The date was then pushed to this coming Monday before the new postponement.

The brokerage industry had requested the latest delay, asking for more time to update its trading systems to process after-hours trades, Nasdaq said.

“The postponement will provide them an opportunity to make adjustments to their systems or modify their processes,” said Nasdaq’s chief operating officer, J. Patrick Campbell.

Nasdaq plans to keep its system open until 3:30 p.m. Pacific time, and the NYSE until 3:35 p.m. Both systems currently stop distributing quotes at 2:15 p.m.

Neither the NYSE nor Nasdaq will be trading in their own markets after hours. The later tickers simply will distribute after-hours prices reported in the electronic markets that are spearheading the move to extended trading.

But the NYSE and Nasdaq both have plans to extend their hours, possibly in 2000.