A technical fault disrupted trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) derivatives market for about two hours yesterday.

Trading was suspended at 7.56pm as the SGX tried to sort out the problem.

It eventually managed to restart the market at 9.30pm and trading resumed at 9.45pm.

"The market will close per normal," it added.

Extended derivatives trading on the SGX closes at 2am.

Unlike shares, derivatives are traded mainly by professionals and other sophisticated investors so the glitch did not affect that many people.

However, it may hurt the exchange's reputation.

In recent years, SGX's derivatives business has overtaken its securities business and now accounts for a larger share of its total revenues.

In its results announcement last week, SGX disclosed that derivatives revenue for the year ended June 30 increased 42 per cent to $295.7 million, while securities revenues slid 8 per cent to $209.3 million.

The SGX said in June that it would invest $20 million to beef up its technology infrastructure while temporarily refraining from raising securities and derivatives fees after suffering trading disruptions late last year.

The technology investment and fee freeze were made after the disruptions drew criticism from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the country's central bank and SGX's regulator.

A software error halted trading for more than three hours late last December.

That delay followed a Nov 5 power failure that halted stocks and derivatives trading.