New York Stock Exchange halts trading in Satyam stock

Hyderabad, Jan 7 : The New York Stock Exchange Wednesday halted trading in the stock of beleaguered Satyam Computer Services prior to the opening of the market at 9.30 a.m. US eastern time, the NYSE said in a statement.

“NYSE regulation is currently evaluating the news relating to Satyam and will continue to closely monitor further developments. Trading was halted prior to the opening of the market. The security will remain halted until further notice,” the exchange's regulation office said in a statement.

The Indian IT bellwether's stock closed at USD 9.35 on NYSE Tuesday when its 3,391,964 American Depository Shares (ADS) were transacted.

The bluechip's shares had a free fall on the Indian bourses after its founder chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and managing director B. Rama Raju resigned and admitted to having committed a revenue fraud to the tune of Rs.65.92 billion (Rs.6,592 crore/USD 1.3 billion).

The Satyam stock fell to a historic low of Rs.39.95 at 4 p.m. on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) from the opening price of Rs.179.10, a record decline of 78 percent. A whopping 143,009,827 shares were sold in a matter of six hours.