Anadarko Shares Trigger NYSE Circuit Breakers Following Error

6th Jul 2010 17:00

By David Benoit Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Shares of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) were the latest to trigger the New York Stock Exchange's new single-stock circuit breaker rules on Tuesday with one erroneous trade that has already been canceled. NYSE Euronext (NYX) spokesman Ray Pellecchia confirmed that Anadarko was halted between 10:56 a.m. EDT and 11:01 a.m. because of the trade, which was for $99,999.09, a value that was quickly erased from the records, he said. A spokesman for Anadarko, an oil and natural gas company, said the exchange had told him the stock was halted for an error. The shares resumed at 11:01 a.m. and rose slightly from their earlier morning levels, but were recently back trading at $39.03, up 2.5%, a similar level they were at before the error. The volume on the stock was relatively light, with 3.2 million shares traded so far, about 17.5% of its typical full-day volume. This is the latest halt from the NYSE's newest rules that were enacted after the so-called flash crash in May. The market wide circuit breakers establish a five-minute trading halt if a stock moves by 10% or more in the preceding five minutes. Last Tuesday a similar occurrence caused Citigroup Inc. (C) to be stopped after it appeared to fall 17% in minutes, also a sequence that was wiped out. Washington Post Co. (WPO) was the first stock to break through the new thresholds three weeks ago, again on trades that were ultimately canceled. Anadarko's shares have been pounded over the past three months, largely because of its stake in the oilfield owned primarily by BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) that continues to leak oil into the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. While Anadarko has blamed BP, and much of the liability appears to rest with the British oil giant, investors have fled most stocks with any relationship to the well, and Anadarko shares have lost 47% over of their value the past three months. -By David Benoit, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2458; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 06, 2010 12:00 ET (16:00 GMT)