The Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) shut down trading for the first time, after the morning session as a trading surge overloaded its system. 

After the benchmark VN-Index rose 0.73 percent and reached a new peak of 1,337.78 points in the morning, the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HoSE) said in a statement that there would be no afternoon session.

Trading value had exceeded VND21.76 trillion ($946 million) in the morning alone, accounting for 85 percent of Monday’s session.

The rising value threatened to impact the system’s safety, HoSE said.

Investors reported having trouble placing orders in the morning with slow responses from brokerages’ price boards.

The chart of VN-Index on Jun 1, 2021. Photo courtesy of VNDirect.

Trading value in recent sessions has repeatedly climbed to new peaks after the index surpassed the 1,300 level for the first time last month.

HoSE’s trading system, which has remained mostly unchanged for the last 20 years, has been overwhelmed by the surge in the number of investors seeking greater returns than bank deposits.

The bourse is still in the progress of upgrading its system.

The index has shot up 20 percent in the first five months. In April, the number of new domestic investors tripled year-on-year to 110,000.