SGX's latest system glitch: tame reaction a real worry

THE most worrying aspect of Thursday's stockmarket disruption is not that it lasted for as long as it did but that it was met with a relatively tame and subdued response from the investing public.

Instead of the shrill, public clamour for blood that accompanied past system breakdowns at the Singapore Exchange (SGX), this time the reaction was much more muted and hinted at a weary and worrying acceptance of a status quo in which regular system disruptions should be tolerated as part of normal market life.

"We could have gone home much earlier" was perhaps the most tame comment this writer received from a dealer. Others wondered about naked short positions they and their clients had taken, and yet others saw the funny side of things with responses such as "SGX must have bought the system from China because of its cracks", referring to the much-publicised cracks in China-made trains bought by rail operator SMRT.