The exchange has proved a bugbear to Switzerland's international image for cuckoo-clock efficiency.

Switzerland's image as a country that runs with clockwork efficiency has been dealt a nasty blow by the SWX Swiss Exchange, Europe's fourth-largest stock exchange.

For the first time in its history, the exchange was forced to close yesterday, brought to a halt by a breakdown in its electronic trading system.

The gremlins of Zurich struck the SWX on Thursday, when the exchange found some market participants suffering time delays in receiving information. Trading was suspended. In spite of "the most intensive efforts" to bring the network back into line, it remained closed yesterday.

Hailed as the world's first fully integrated electronic stock exchange, it was introduced a year late in 1996 and more than 50 per cent over budget.

Maintaining Swiss traditions for secrecy, the SWX would not disclose the nature of the problem.