The New York Stock Exchange implemented new circuit-breaker trigger levels on July 1 for the third quarter of 1998. Based on the current level of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the new triggers on a ten percent, or 900-point decline will halt trading for one hour before 2 p.m, and for 30 minutes between 2 p.m. and 2.30 p.m. The circuit breakers will not stop trading on a 900-point decline between 2:30 p.m. and the session close at 4 p.m.
A 1,750-point dip, or 20-percent Dow decline, will halt trading for two hours if the decline occurs before 1 p.m. Trading will stop for one hour with a 20-percent dip between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. And trading will halt for the remainder of the day if a 20-percent decline occurs between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
A 2,650-point decline, or 30 percent Dow drop, will halt trading for the remainder of the day, regardless of when the decline occurs.
The NYSE circuit breakers were triggered for the first and only time on Oct. 27, 1997, in a seven-percent Dow decline.
