The chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Charles Li told, "Our current assessment that this is a result of a malicious attack by outside hacking."
In a statement released earlier, HKEx said it had adopted a half-day suspension policy for issuers that announce price-sensitive information during the lunch hour.
Other systems at the exchange were not affected and trading in its securities and derivatives markets operated normally, the exchange said.
If the website remains unstable on Thursday, the exchange's bulletin board will be used for dissemination of information but the stocks will be not suspended, said Mark Dickens, head of listing at HKEx.
It discovered a five-year long campaign of cyber attacks on the networks of governments, organisations and businesses.
Other targets have been the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the International Olympic Committee; and an array of companies from defense contractors to high-tech enterprises.
"It was the first time for a suspension due to such a kind of technical problem and one involving so many companies," said Alfred Chan, chief dealer at Cheer Pearl Investment in Hong Kong.
HSBC, which comprises 15 percent of Hong Kong's benchmark, confirmed during the midday break the sale of its underperforming U.S. credit card business and retail services unit to Capital One Financial.
In all, stocks contributing to about 18 percent of the Hang Seng index's weight did not trade during the afternoon session.
The move to suspend trading hit turnover on the exchange in the afternoon session since HSBC and HKEx are amongst the most liquid names traded in Hong Kong.
Shares of HSBC last traded up 3.9 percent but could have pared gains into the afternoon session considering its London-listed shares were trading up just 0.1 percent as of 1030 GMT.
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