“Regulators and exchange officials trying to unravel the cause of last week’s Nasdaq Stock Market failure are focusing on an apparently pivotal two-minute period that foretold just how severe the market’s problems were about to get, according to people familiar with the discussions.

“The period between 10:53 a.m. and 10:55 a.m. in New York on Thursday appears to have been crucial to signaling the coming impact of a connection problem between Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.’s systems and rival electronic market NYSE Arca, the people said.

“Officials from Nasdaq and Arca parent NYSE Euronext, as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission, continued through the weekend to review Thursday’s three-hour trading halt on Nasdaq, while Nasdaq management including Chief Executive Robert Greifeld provided continuing updates to directors, customers and shareholders of the company, the people said.”

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