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Sales gains at its Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic chains and online helped clothing seller Gap Inc. overcome rising costs and post first-quarter net income on Thursday that was unchanged from a year earlier.

The company raised its guidance for the year, and its shares climbed after hours.

Gap has struggled for years to reclaim its status as a fashion leader, and the results show it is making strides in its effort to get more people to shop in its stores. More than two-thirds of the company’s revenue came from stores in the U.S., while 12 percent was generated online.

“During the quarter, we improved sales, grew earnings per share and continued investing in the business to drive performance,” said CEO Glenn Murphy.

Gap said its net income was $233 million, or 47 cents per share, for the period that ended April 28. That includes a benefit of a penny per share related to reassessing its tax position, Gap said. Analysts on average forecast earnings of 46 cents per share, according to FactSet. Gap’s earnings rose on a per-share basis, even though its net income was flat, because the company had 16 percent fewer shares outstanding.

Gap first announced its quarterly revenue earlier this month. It rose 6 percent to $3.49 billion, topping analysts’ average forecast for $3.46 billion.

Revenue from stores open at least a year, an important gauge of retailers’ health, rose 4 percent instant credit reports. The comparison is considered key because it isn’t skewed by results from stores that open or close during the year.

The measure rose 5 percent at Gap and Banana Republic stores in North America and 4 percent at Old Navy stores in North America. It fell 4 percent at international stores, though total overseas revenue rose 13 percent to $511 million.

Online revenue rose 18 percent to $410 million, the company said.

Gap said its operating expenses were $980 million, up $62 million from a year earlier, and its margin was about 10 percent. Marketing expenses rose $20 million to $139 million in the most recent quarter, including greater investment in marketing the Gap brand.

The company raised its guidance to $1.78 to $1.83 per share from $1.75 to $1.80. Analysts expect $1.97 per share.

After hours, Gap shares rose more than 8 percent at one point. They settled up about 94 cents, or 3.6 percent above their closing price of $26.31. The shares had lost 79 cents during regular trading Thursday. Over the past year, they’ve traded between $15.08 and $29.23.

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Critical last-ditch talks to form a coalition government in crisis-struck Greece floundered once more Sunday, leading the country one step closer to new elections, although the socialist party leader said he retained `existing but limited’ optimism for a deal.

The political uncertainty has alarmed the international creditors who have given Greece billions of euros in bailout loans over the past two years, and has thrown the country’s continued presence in the European Union’s joint currency into serious doubt.

President Karolos Papoulias convened the heads of the parties that came in the top three spots in last Sunday’s inconclusive elections, in an ultimate effort to broker an agreement after a week of talks led to deadlock. The meeting ended without a solution, but the process continues while the president holds individual meetings with the leaders of smaller parties that made it into parliament.

Voters furious at the handling of Greece’s financial crisis and two years of harsh austerity measures taken in return for billions of euros in international bailout loans punished the formerly dominant socialist PASOK and conservative New Democracy parties in the elections. The two saw their support crumble to the lowest point in decades, while Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, made big gains to come in second place after campaigning on an anti-bailout platform.

The PASOK and New Democracy leaders could form a coalition with the smaller Democratic Left party of Fotis Kouvelis _ combined they would have 168 seats in the 300-member parliament. New Democracy won 18.9 percent last Sunday while PASOK garnered just 13.2 percent, compared to nearly 44 percent in the last elections in 2009. Kouvelis’ 6.1 percent put him in a kingmaker position, with 19 seats.

But all three insist any power-sharing deal must include Syriza, led by the 38-year-old Alexis Tsipras, given its strong showing at the ballot box.

Tsipras, however, insists he cannot join or even lend his support to a government that will continue implementing the terms of Greece’s international bailout. In return for euro240 billion in rescue loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, Greece has imposed severe spending cuts, including slashing pensions and salaries in the public sector, and repeated rounds of tax hikes. The measures have left Greece mired in a fifth year of deep recession, with unemployment spiraling above 21 percent.

“The three parties that have agreed on a two-year government in order to apply (the bailout) have 168 seats in parliament,” Tsipras said after the meeting. “Let them go ahead. Their demand that Syriza participate come what may in their own agreement is senseless and unprecedented.”

Tsipras insists the terms of the bailout must be cancelled. PASOK head Evangelos Venizelos, who spent nine months handling the crisis as finance minister, and conservative leader Antonis Samaras, say that position is irresponsible and will force Greece out of the euro. Although Sunday’s meeting convened by the president with the three top party leaders was inconclusive, Venizelos said that “I retain some limited but existing optimism that a government can be formed.”

Samaras appeared more pessimistic.

“I made every effort for the cooperation of all,” he said. “Syriza didn’t listen to the mandate of the Greek people and does not accept not only the formation of a viable government, but not even the tolerance of a government which would in fact undertake to renegotiate the terms of the (bailout) and the loan agreement.”

Tsipras, however, stuck to his position, insisting that supporting a pro-bailout government would be a betrayal of his pre-election platform.

“After today’s meeting it is obvious they are demanding that Syriza become an accessory to a crime,” he said after the discussions with the president. “In the name of democracy, of our patriotic duty, we cannot accept this shared guilt. We call on all Greeks to condemn once and for all the forces of the past and to realize that only one hope remains: unity against blackmail in order to prevent the continuing barbarity.

“Fellow Greeks, we can assure you of one thing: we will not betray you.”

Tsipras will also have his eye on recent opinion polls which show his party would gain strength if Greeks go to the ballot box again next month.

A poll published by To Vima newspaper Sunday indicated Syriza would come first in new elections with 20.5 percent of the vote _ less than the 28 percent an earlier opinion poll published Thursday gave him, but still well ahead of New Democracy. Although it would not be enough to form a government, it would put him in the dominant position to form a coalition with smaller anti-bailout parties.

To Vima’s poll, carried out by Kappa Research, showed New Democracy in second place with 18.1 percent and PASOK losing yet more votes to reach 12.2 percent. The poll was carried out on May 9 and 10, and had a margin of error of 3.09 percentage points.

Papoulias’ mediation to broker a deal could in theory continue until May 17, the scheduled opening date for the new parliament, although they are expected to end sooner. If no agreement is reached, Greece will have to hold new elections next month, most likely on June 10th or 17th.

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Furious Greeks punished the two parties that have dominated politics for decades in the crisis-battered country Sunday, leaving its multibillion dollar international bailout _ and even its future in the euro currency _ hanging in the balance.

With more than 83 percent of the vote counted, Greece appeared to be heading toward political stalemate. Nobody won enough votes to form a government, and the two parties that backed the bailout _ the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK _ conceded they need to win over adversaries to form a viable coalition.

“I understand the rage of the people, but our party will not leave Greece ungoverned,” said New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras.

New Democracy was leading with nearly 20 percent of the vote, which would give it 110 seats in the 300-member parliament. PASOK, which has spent 21 years in government since 1981 and stormed to victory with more than 43 percent in 2009, saw its support slashed to about 13.5 percent. It will have just 41 seats, compared to 160 in the last election.

The two parties saw their support plummet to the lowest level since 1974, when Greece emerged from a seven-year dictatorship. The outcome showed widespread public anger at the harsh austerity measures imposed over the past two years in return for rescue loans from other European Union countries and the International Monetary Fund. Without the funds, Greece faced a disastrous default that could have dragged down other financially troubled European countries and seen it leave the euro.

Voters who deserted the two mainstays of Greek politics in droves headed to a cluster of smaller parties on both the left and right, including the extremist Golden Dawn, which rejects the neo-Nazi label and insists it is nationalist patriotic. The movement has been blamed for violent attacks on immigrants and ran on an anti-immigrant platform, vowing to “clean up” Greece and calling for land mines to be planted along the country’s borders. The party looked set to win about 7 percent of the vote, giving it 21 deputies in parliament _ a stunning rise for a group that earned just 0.29 percent of the vote in 2009.

Sunday’s other big winner was Alexis Tsipras, the 38-year-old leader of the Radical Left Coalition, or Syriza, who saw his party poised for an unprecedented second place with 16.4 percent and 51 seats _ the first time in nearly 40 years that any party other than New Democracy or PASOK has held the spot.

Turnout stood at just over 64 percent _ a low figure for the country, where voting is officially compulsory, although no sanctions are applied for not casting a ballot.

Negotiations are expected to begin Monday to form a coalition. As first party, Samaras will get three days to seek partners. If he fails the mandate will go to the second party for a further three days, and then to the third party. If no agreement can be reached, the country heads to new elections guaranteed online personal loans.

Both Samaras and PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos, who spent nine months as finance minister, indicated any unity government would have to include more than just their two parties.

But in a note that will likely raise alarm among Greece’s international creditors, Samaras insisted any coalition should renegotiate the terms of the country’s bailout.

“We are ready to take up the responsibility to form a new government of national salvation with two exclusive aims: For Greece to remain in the euro and to amend the terms of the loan agreements so that there is economic growth and relief for Greek society,” he said.

Riding high on his massive gains, Tsipras stuck to his anti-bailout position, saying the agreement should be overturned altogether.

“The people have rewarded a proposal made by us to form a government of the Left that will cancel the loan agreements and overturn the course of our people toward misery,” he said before heading out to meet throngs of jubilant supporters.

More than two years of repeated austerity measures that have included pension and salary cuts and waves of tax hikes have pushed Greece into a deep recession that has seen the jobless rate explode and tens of thousands of businesses close.

Venizelos insisted his party, which was in power from the start of the crisis in late 2009 until a political crisis forced it into an uneasy coalition with New Democracy, had no choice but to impose the spending cuts.

“For us at PASOK, the day is particularly painful,” he said. “We knew that we would pay the price, having taken an emotionally and political unbearable position to take the measures that were necessary.”

He called for a broad coalition of pro-European parties, regardless on their stance on the bailouts.

“A coalition government of the old two-party system would not have sufficient legitimacy or sufficient domestic and international credibility if it would gather a slim majority,” Venizelos said. “A government of national unity with the participation of all the parties that favor a European course, regardless of their positions toward the loan agreements, would have meaning.”

The political leaders, humbled by the drubbing in the polls which saw their combined support drop to about 33 percent, compared to a historical average of 80 percent, will have to work fast to ensure their country doesn’t slide into protracted political instability. Greece’s international creditors are also looking to see whether it will introduce new measures expected in June to ensure the country meets the fiscal targets of its rescue loans.

____

Demetris Nellas and Nebi Qena in Athens and Costas Kantouris in Thessaloniki contributed.

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Swiss central bank President Thomas Jordan said policy makers are ready to take further measures if needed to weaken the franc as its strength poses

World stocks skidded lower Monday after budget talks in the Netherlands collapsed over the weekend and a Socialist who wants to put France’s austerity plans in reverse won the first round of the country’s presidential election.

European stocks and U.S. futures fell as investors recoiled from risky assets amid a tepid report on Chinese manufacturing and signs of political resistance to proposed spending cuts aimed at extricating Europe from its debt crisis.

Britain’s FTSE 100 shed 1.4 percent to 5,690.86 and Germany’s DAX dived 2 percent to 6,612.49. France’s CAC-40 lost 1.2 percent to 3,150.42.

Wall Street appeared headed for a lower opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures down 0.8 percent to 12,890 and S&P 500 futures 0.8 percent lower at 1,364.20.

Asian stocks also posted palpable losses, especially Chinese shares. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.8 percent to 20,624.39.

Mainland Chinese shares dropped, with the Growth Enterprise Market _ a sub-market focused on smaller, innovative companies _ falling more than 5 percent due to news it will launch a delisting system in May.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 percent to 2,388.59 and the Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.8 percent to 944.87.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index swung between gains and losses before closing, down 0.2 percent at 9,542.17.

South Korea’s Kospi slipped 0.1 percent to 1,972.63 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.3 percent to 4,352.40. Benchmarks in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan were also lower.

Over the weekend, Dutch lawmakers failed to resolve differences over budget cuts needed to bring the Dutch deficit back within the European Union limit of 3 percent of gross domestic product.

The government is expected to resign within the coming days and call elections later this year, making it the latest European government forced out of office by the continent’s financial crisis.

Markets were also rattled by first-round results in France’s presidential election. Socialist candidate Francois Hollande garnered more votes than incumbent conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy payday loans.

Hollande wants to renegotiate a European treaty intended to limit excessive government spending in order to emphasize growth over austerity.

If Hollande wins a second-round election May 6, economists fear those steps would upset France’s delicate cooperation with Germany that has been key to Europe’s efforts to resolve its financial crisis.

Meanwhile, a report on Chinese manufacturing suggested that a slowdown in growth may have bottomed out in the first quarter. HSBC’s China purchasing managers index _ a seasonally adjusted index designed to measure the performance of the manufacturing economy _ rose to 49.1 in April, up from 48.3 in March.

Still, any reading below 50 indicates a drop in production. The semisoft result kept traders hopes high for monetary easing by China to prop up growth. One possible option would be for the Chinese central bank to lower the ratio of reserves that banks are required to hold, a move that could boost lending.

“There is no reason to aggressively ease policy, but at the same time, it seems momentum is weaker and some fine-tuning would be useful,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.

“I think we have to wait for whether China eases policy in the near term. That will be the key determinant of market sentiment, so let’s hope they do.”

U.S. stocks rose Friday on the back of stronger profits from Microsoft, McDonald’s and other major U.S. corporations. Later Monday, ConocoPhillips, toy maker Hasbro Inc. and Netflix Inc. will report quarterly financial results.

In energy trading, benchmark oil for June delivery was down 68 cents to $103.20 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.16 to settle at $103.88 in New York on Friday.

The euro fell to $1.3154 from $1.3215 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 81.08 yen from 81.58 yen.

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In a bold move to gain control of Argentina’s energy reserves, President Cristina Fernandez pushed forward a bill to renationalize the country’s largest oil company on Monday despite fierce criticism from abroad and the risk of a major rift with Spain.

In a national address, Fernandez said the legislation put to congress would give Argentina a majority stake in oil and gas company YPF by taking control of 51 percent of its shares currently held by Spain’s Repsol.

Both Repsol and Spain strongly oppose the move and have warned that it could turn Argentina into an international pariah.

YPF is vital for Argentina’s energy future, especially after its recent find of huge unconventional oil and natural gas reserves. But the company is under pressure from Fernandez’s government to raise output while its shares have plunged in recent months on fears of possible state intervention. Argentina this year expects to import more than $10 billion worth of gas and natural liquid gas to address an energy crisis even though it is an oil-producing nation, according to estimates from the hydrocarbon sector.

“We are the only country in Latin America, and I would say in practically the entire world, that doesn’t manage its own natural resources,” Fernandez said. She said her proposal “is not a model of statism” but “the recovery of sovereignty.”

Critics blame the government for an energy shortage and high gasoline prices. But Fernandez said the shortage is the result of Repsol’s “emptying” of YPF, and that Argentina had a deficit of $3 billion last year partly due to energy imports.

Argentines gathered in Buenos Aires’ main square shouting slogans, waving national flags and carrying banners supporting the government takeover. One of them read: “Today, with Cristina, we recovered YPF.” YPF was privatized in the 1990s. Repsol’s subsidiary in Argentina holds 57 percent of YPF’s shares.

Fernandez said the renationalization was a long-held desire of her late husband and predecessor, former President Nestor Kirchner.

“I hope he’s watching over me because he always wanted to recover YPF for the country,” she said.

But analysts said the planned takeover risks alienating foreign investors and prompting retaliation from Spain’s government.

“It is a bad decision,” said Emilio Apud, a former Argentine energy secretary who now works as a consultant. “It gives the Argentine government a bad image” and will discourage investment, he said. Apud also called the proposed law “a bad way to treat friendly governments like Spain.”

In Madrid, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo called the move arbitrary, and said it broke the climate of cordiality and friendship that had existed with Argentina. He said Spain would respond with “forceful measures” he did not describe.

The European Commission has warned that nationalizing YPF would be bad for the investment climate in Argentina, and has said it backs Spain in the standoff over the subsidiary.

Fernandez, however, was unmoved by the risk of a row with Spain, Argentina’s largest foreign investor.

“This president is not going to answer any threat, is not going to respond to any sharp remark.,” she said to applause from business, union and political leaders.

“I am a head of state and not a hoodlum,” said Fernandez, who has also renationalized the country’s Aerolineas Argentinas airline and nationalized the Anses state private pension funds.

There was no explanation of how, or how much, Repsol and its stockholders would be compensated. Analysts say that the government might have to use Central Bank reserves, or funds from the Anses to pay for the takeover.

“The issue that scares investors is not knowing how far the governmental participation will go, if it’s only YPF or if it is going to include other petroleum companies in Argentina,” said Joe Amador, Latin America director for Scotia Waterous, the oil and gas arm of Scotiabank, in Houston, Texas.

Even with its share prices depressed, YPF last week was valued at $13.6 billion, and buying half of that would deplete Argentina’s treasury of funds it needs to maintain the populist subsidies that have kept the country’s economy afloat.

Repsol released a statement promising to protect the interests of its shareholders. It called the move “unlawful and gravely discriminatory.”

Spanish officials had earlier protested the plan, saying Argentina risks becoming “an international pariah” if it takes control of Repsol’ subsidiary, Repsol YPF SA

Spain’s foreign minister last week summoned Argentine Ambassador Carlo Antonio Bettini to convey concern over possible nationalization of YPF, which represents 42 percent of Repsol’s total reserves, estimated at 2.1 billion barrels of crude.

Mexico’s Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari said in recent days that Spain had requested that Mexico intervene in the row with Argentina over Repsol-YPF SA. But Ferrari said Mexico’s role in the dispute is still to be determined.

“We will hold talks with Spain over the next days to exactly determine what Mexico can do,” he said ahead of the World Economic Forum on Latin America 2012 that will be held in the coastal city of Puerto Vallarta.

At the forum on Monday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon criticized Argentina’s move, calling it “not very responsible and not very rational.”

In contrast, Venezuela’s foreign ministry issued a statement voicing support for Fernandez’s decision to renationalize YPF. Venezuela’s state oil company also supported the Argentine decision and said it is willing to help strengthen Argentina’s oil industry,

“Venezuela puts all its technical, operational, legal and political experience of Petroleos de Venezuela at the disposition of the government of Argentina and its people to strenthen the state oil sector,” the foreign ministry said.

Governors of oil-producing Argentine provinces have withdrawn about 15 oil leases, representing 18 percent of YPF’s crude production, alleging the company failed to keep its promises to develop them. YPF has countered that it has invested millions in those areas and plans to increase production, but Argentine officials have said that still falls short.

How Argentina may try to displace Repsol has been the subject of wide speculation since the government’s pressure campaign began in February.

The president’s proposal would leave Repsol with just a little more than 6 percent of YPF’s shares.

Fernandez put Federal Planning Minister Julio de Vido and Economics Vice Minister Axel Kicillof in charge of handling the expropriation.

The president’s proposal declares that the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons is “of national public interest” and declares that building up the nation’s supply is a priority.

____

Associated Press writers Luis Andres Henao in Buenos Aires and Jorge Sainz in Madrid contributed to this report.

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Americans took out more loans to buy cars and attend school in February but used their credit cards less frequently for the second straight month.

The Federal Reserve said Friday that consumer increased borrowing by $8.7 billion, the sixth straight monthly increase.

The jump in borrowing was driven by $11 billion increase in the category that mostly measures demand for auto and student loans. Borrowing on credit cards fell $2 billion after a $3 billion decline in January.

In February, total consumer borrowing rose to seasonally adjusted $2.52 trillion. That’s nearly at pre-recession levels and up from a post-recession low point of $2.39 billion reached in September 2010. Borrowing had tumbled for more than two years during and immediately after the recession.

Consumer borrowing rose by $18.6 billion in January, following similar gains in December and November. The gains for those three months were the largest in a decade.

A rise in borrowing could suggest that consumers are feeling more confident about the economy. However, few are comfortable enough to step up credit card use. Consumers carried $799 billion in credit card debt in February _ 15 percent less than they held in December 2007, the first month of the Great Recession

The job market slowed in March after three of the best months of hiring since the recession. Employers added just 120,000 jobs last month _ half the December-February pace pay day loans. The unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent to 8.2 percent, the lowest since January 2009.

Many economists blamed seasonal factors for much of Friday’s disappointing jobs report from the Labor Department. Even with the March pullback, the economy has added an average of 212,000 jobs per month from January through March.

The increase in hiring has helped boost consumer spending, which jumped in February by the most in seven months.

But consumers are also borrowing more at a time when their wages have not kept pace with inflation. And they are paying more for gas _ the average price per gallon nationally was $3.94 on Friday.

Households began borrowing less and saving more when the 2007-2009 recession began and unemployment surged. While the expectation is that consumers are ready to resume borrowing, they are not expected to load up on debt the way they did during the housing boom of the last decade.

The Federal Reserve’s borrowing report covers auto loans, student loans and credit cards. It excludes mortgages, home equity loans and other loans tied to real estate.

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It’s a hot week for public debuts. Shares of two tech-related companies, CafePress and Millennial Media, gained in their initial public offerings Thursday.

Millennial () more than doubled in early trading. It priced its initial public offering at $13 per share, the high end of its range. Shares opened on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday at $25, and they quickly rose to $27.50 each. By the late afternoon, Millennial shares were trading at $24.27.

Founded in 2006, Millennial Media has emerged as a competitor to behemoth rivals Apple (, Fortune 500) and Google (, Fortune 500). Facebook, which has dominated in display advertising, has so far ignored the mobile ad sector — though that may change soon. Facebook said last month that it would start expanding into mobile ads.

Like many other newly public startups, Millennial Media is not profitable. Its losses narrowed sharply last year as its sales increased. Millennial took a net loss of $287,000 in 2011 on sales of almost $104 million. In 2010, the company recorded a net loss of more than $7 million on sales of nearly $48 million.

CafePress (), which was founded in 1999, also began trading Thursday on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

CafePress opened at $21 cash advance to savings account.50 , but the stock was trading at $20.46 late in the session. The company, which was founded in 1999 and survived the early-2000s dot-com bust, prints custom designs on items like T-shirts and mugs.

It priced its IPO at $19 a share, above the $16 to $18 range it had set previously.

Unlike Millennial Media, CafePress made a profit last year. It netted $3.6 million on $175.5 million in sales. That’s up from a $2.7 million profit and almost $128 million in revenue for 2010.

CafePress and Millennial are just two of 10 companies expected to go public this week. On Wednesday, organic food company Annie’s () closed 89% higher after pricing at the top of its range.

Two other companies that went public Wednesday also surged. Vocera Communications (), a maker of health care technology, closed 32% higher, and consumer finance company Regional Management () finished the day up nearly 10%.

Investors appear to have a strong appetite for IPOs this year. According to the New York Stock Exchange, the average return for IPOs on their first day of trading this year is 15%. 

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A former MF Global executive is refusing to answer lawmakers’ questions about more than $1 billion in customer money that vanished in the days before the firm collapsed, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Edith O’Brien, a former assistant treasurer at MF Global, was subpoenaed to testify before the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee hearing about an email she sent in the firm’s final days.

The email appears to contradict testimony from Jon Corzine, the firm’s then-CEO paydayloans. It says he ordered the transfer of $200 million from a customer account on Oct. 28 to cover an overdraft in the firm’s bank account in London.

Corzine testified in December that never directed anyone to use customer funds to fix the overdraft and he wasn’t told that customer money was used.

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It was hardly the stock market debut BATS Global Markets was hoping for.

Since being founded nearly seven years ago, the Kansas-based stock exchange operator has been doing battle with its much larger rivals Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange for a piece of the stock exchange market. On Thursday night the initial public offering of its own stock priced at $16 apiece, the low end of what the company had originally predicted. Intended as a symbol of its newfound stature, the IPO would trade on BATS’s own exchange.

If only the problems stopped there.

The shares immediately plunged to just pennies before being halted. They never reopened. By late afternoon, BATS withdrew its public offering and said it had no plans to refile. All trades made that day would be canceled.

Meanwhile, a problem linked to a faulty trade on a BATS platform in Apple caused that stock to be temporarily halted. BATS also said it temporarily suspended trading of all stocks whose ticker symbols began with A through BF, though it restored that trading by early afternoon.

“We have an electronic mess,” said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading for broker Themis Trading.

The botched IPO was a blow was not only to the exchange, but to a new business for which it had high hopes. In February, BATS offered free listings to companies whose shares traded a certain amount each day. It strove to define itself as a tech-savvy exchange, and said companies would benefit from its “world-class customer support and technology.”

To help the business, BATS picked a new listing that would be sure to garner attention: itself.

The irony was hard to miss.

“It was the biggest day of the life of the company, and their own stock melts down,” says Larry Tabb, CEO of Tabb Group, a markets research firm. “This doesn’t build confidence.”

Saluzzi called the glitch a “black eye” for the complicated web of more than 40 electronic trading venues that has largely replaced the open outcry system of human traders yelling numbers at each other. “All it takes is one piece of the puzzle to fall, and they all fall.”

The problems brought comparisons to the May 6, 2010, “flash crash,” when a crush of electronic trading glitches caused a stomach-churning plunge in the markets. They also raised questions about the safety of the new stock trading platforms such as BATS that have sprung up in recent years.

High-frequency trading driven by powerful computers and complex mathematical formulas has largely elbowed out guys in jackets on the NYSE floor as the main source of trading. The computers comb the markets for securities priced too high or too low for a split-second, then trade on them.

Though computer glitches aren’t all that unusual in the fast-paced world of high-frequency trading, the embarrassment couldn’t have come at a worse, or more public, time for BATS. Based in Lenexa, Kansas, with about 170 employees, it’s trying to position itself as an alternative to the bigger, much older NYSE and Nasdaq. When companies go public, they pick one of the exchanges to list themselves on.

With memories of the flash crash still fresh, regulators have been taking a closer look at high-frequency trading firms. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether such platforms give some traders an unfair advantage. The Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, said the investigation includes BATS.

The SEC declined to comment. BATS said in regulatory filing in February that it had received a request for information from the SEC’s enforcement division about “our communications with certain market participants … regarding the development, modification and use of order types; our information technology systems; and trading strategies.” BATS said in the filing that it was cooperating with the SEC.

Friday’s trouble was exacerbated at 10:57 a.m., when a trade on a BATS platform marked 100 Apple shares as $542.80 for a millisecond, when a split-second earlier Apple had been $598.26.

That triggered a “circuit breaker,” which is meant to alert traders when a stock trades at a price that is significantly different from its previous price.

BATS temporarily halted trading of all stocks whose tickers began with A through BF. It said later that a “systems issue” had affected those stocks, and that the issue was corrected by 12:50 p.m.

BATS and the Nasdaq, where Apple is normally traded, both declared “self-help” against each other. Exchanges are normally required to consider other exchanges’ prices when accepting order prices. But they can declare “self-help,” meaning they do not need to consider another exchange’s price, when the other exchange is malfunctioning, said Manoj Narang, chief executive of Tradeworx.

BATS’ motto is “Making Markets Better.”

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