The Automatic Order matching and Execution System (AMS/2) of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong experienced a "system busy" status at about 11:00am. The system recovered at about 11:40am. The Exchange is looking into the cause of the incident.

Trading arrangements of the SEHK market for the afternoon session will remain unchanged. All Stock Options contracts for the month of May will expire at the close of business today. Normal procedures will apply for the exercise of all contracts.

As a result of the incident, ten EAS prices reported by HSI Services for the May HSI, HHI, PSI, and Red Chip futures and options contracts, and all Stock Futures contracts, respectively, during this period may not reflect the market situation.

In this situation, the Hong Kong Futures Exchange has determined that circumstances warrant the calculation of the final settlement prices for the May HSI, HHI, PSI, and Red Chip futures and options contracts, and all Stock Futures contracts, respectively, by averaging the 38 EAS prices today that were not affected by the incident.