Broker's blunder leads to rocketing share price and red faces all round

A few minutes after noon an order was placed to purchase Orlen shares worth over zł.7 million, which resulted in PKN's stock rocketing by 8.5% within a few minutes. "We analyzed the listings. The reason for this sudden change in the quoting of Orlen shares was a mistake by of one of the brokerage houses. We sent a letter with a request for explanations, but it was left without any answer. We also informed the Securities and Stock Exchange Commission," said Dariusz Marszałek from the WSE. According to Gazeta Wyborcza sources, the broker sent a mistaken order for another company with a very high price limit. The mistake also resulted in the increase of WIG-20 index, which went up by 1.6%. In theory the transaction could be annulled, but in practice it is irreversible. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 25; Parkiet, p. 1) M.M.