Glitched Tickers, Hyperactive Algos: The Strange Data Error Behind Infosys’ 40% ADR Spike

ADRs spiked nearly 40% intraday to a 52‑week high of about $30 before ending up only around 5% at $20.22, in what now looks like a technical rather than fundamental episode. A detailed post‑mortem points to a ticker‑mapping glitch at several data providers, which briefly tagged “INFY” as American Noble Gas Inc. while still showing Infosys’ financials and AI‑headline set, confusing algo models that hunt for “mispriced” assets in thin year‑end liquidity. ​ In effect, faulty reference data triggered a momentum feedback loop: algorithms read the anomaly as an opportunity, bought aggressively, and the surge then tripped NYSE volatility halts twice before price mean‑reverted. Infosys has formally clarified there was no material news or undisclosed corporate event, reinforcing that this was a market‑structure accident, not a stealth re‑rating catalyst. ​ The episode underlines how fragile ADR price discovery can be when home markets are shut, liquidity is low and automated strategies dominate. For investors, the only rational takeaway is to treat such spikes as noise, not signal—and to remember that in a world where code trades faster than humans think, data integrity is now a core part of market risk, not a back‑office detail. Source: The Economic Times No Recommendations