Selling spree forces shut down at Tokyo Exchange

An avalanche of sell orders forced the shut-down of the world's second-biggest stock exchange - the Tokyo Stock Exchange - spooked by the fall-out from an investigation into internet company Livedoor.

The Tokyo exchange, where shares were down more than 4% at one point, suspended trading 20 minutes before the normal closing time after the number of trades threatened to exceed its system's capacity of 4.5 million per day.