NYSE computer glitch spikes trade volume

NEW YORK, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Mysteriously high trade volumes caused by a computer glitch on the New York Stock Exchange Wednesday wreaked some short-lived mayhem, officials said.

"This algorithmic trading is kind of out of control," Phil Silverman, managing partner at Kingsview Capital, told CNBC. "It seriously hurts investor confidence."

It wasn't the first such glitch in the system, and while traders are getting more adept at identifying automated errors, they nonetheless throw the trading world into chaos.

CNBC said 150 stocks saw a "blinding surge" in market volume by mid-afternoon, disrupting prices of several Dow components.

"When markets would have a big move, when things were really crazy, I would go out into the street and talk to people and they knew. Now, you get these big moves and people just don't care anymore," Silverman said. "They don't want to be a part of it, the high-frequency thing. The algorithmic situation needs to be looked at. We need to understand it better."

The NYSE said it was reviewing "irregular" trades that took place shortly after 9:30 a.m. and temporarily halted some trades, The New York Times reported.

Knight Capital, which uses algorithms to perform high-frequency trades, said it had "technology issues" with its processes, but the NYSE now has mechanisms to limit the damage caused by such non-human errors, and the broader markets weren't greatly affected, CNBC said.