Trading on the Jasdaq Securities Exchange, Japan's largest market for startup companies, started at 12:30 p.m. Monday after being delayed due to a system failure, the exchange said.

The bourse could not hold the morning session, which was due to start at 9 a.m., or off-hours trading before that, a Jasdaq spokesman said. The cause of the system error was not immediately known.

The Jasdaq market, home to more than 900 firms including Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc. and McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan), had similar halts in trading in February and April.