Haphazard spree of sell orders give Singapore traders a $41-billion fright

Speculation raged across trading desks as to whether an inept human or badly-programmed machine was to blame

What was shaping up to be a ho-hum market open in Singapore suddenly became the most dramatic session in years, with a haphazard spree of sell orders causing a $41-billion crash in the city’s biggest stock.

Jardine Matheson Holdings, the flagship investment firm of a 186-year-old conglomerate that hadn’t posted a double-digit stock decline since April 2009, plunged 83 per cent in pre-market trading on Thursday. While the drop reversed almost as quickly as it happened, some 167,500 shares changed hands at prices less than a quarter of the previous day’s close.

Speculation raged across trading desks as to whether