Technical snags delay Milan bourse open, not Y2K

MILAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - The Milan bourse said on Tuesday it had delayed the open of trading until 0900 GMT due to technical problems which it said were not related to the millennium bug.

After initially delaying the open until 0845 GMT, the bourse promptly issued another statement extending the delay until 0900 GMT.

A techncial expert at the bourse said the problems were related to a system called Win GL which channels trades. The system is controlled by French company GL Trade and not the bourse, the expert said.

The bourse said it was having problems matching certain trades with the system and was shifting those trades to other systems.

In its statement, the bourse said the cash market and Nuovo Mercato would open at 0900 GMT until the normal closing time of 1630 GMT. Covered warrants will trade from 0850 GMT to 1630 GMT, it added.

The Milan bourse started trading in the new millennium on Monday with no apparent Y2K problems.

-- Sheri Nakken (wncy2k@nccn.net), January 04, 2000