A network disruption at Nasdaq’s Carteret, New Jersey, facility on Oct. 15 caused intermittent data gaps across U.S. equities markets, affecting multiple multicast groups and compromising both the primary “A” and secondary “B” feeds, across hardware and software delivery, for Nasdaq, Nasdaq Texas, and Nasdaq PSX.
Trading itself continued without interruption, according to an unnamed person familiar with the matter cited by Reuters. Missing or delayed quote data creates real operational friction, however: incomplete price feeds can complicate execution decisions and disrupt pricing models. Post-trade reconciliation also grows significantly harder for any firm whose systems depend on complete, timely market data.
Nasdaq directed affected customers to use backup feeds originating from its Chicago facility and to submit recovery requests for missing data. The company said it was investigating the incident and apologized for the disruption, according to Reuters.
Nasdaq’s market-status page later confirmed the intermittent gapping had been resolved and that systems were operating normally.
Even when order-matching engines run cleanly, an incomplete view of prices creates serious operational burdens for brokerages, algorithmic trading firms, market makers, liquidity providers, and data vendors connected to the Carteret feeds. Firms that lack automated failover systems capable of detecting feed discrepancies and rerouting to backup sources face the greatest exposure, though the research brief does not identify which specific customers were most affected.
This is not Nasdaq’s first infrastructure stumble. In March 2024, a major connectivity problem disrupted premarket trading and impaired the order-matching system for more than two hours, according to Reuters.
Incidents of this kind tend to prompt firms to audit feed redundancy, failover procedures, and data-recovery protocols. The Securities and Exchange Commission monitors exchanges for issues affecting data integrity and fair access, though no inquiry into this specific event has been confirmed. Nasdaq shares were separately reported down approximately 3.8% year to date at the time of Reuters’ report, a figure Reuters did not attribute to the disruption.
