All major stock exchanges of New York have been closed for business for two straight days now. New York Stock Exchange is testing its system of electronic trading so that it can commence trading, as markets open on Wednesday. This may not be a definite decision yet, but both major exchanges, NYSE and Nasdaq were allowing brokerage firms to run test trading on their systems, early on Tuesday. So even if the floor trading is not reopened on Wednesday, the exchanges will allow electronic trading.
NYSE’s operators have also quashed rumors that their trading floors were flooded in wake of the storm. NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) announced Monday,
“We stress that, as of now, there has been no damage to the NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) NYC headquarters that would impair trading-floor operations.”
The Sandy storm has flooded streets of New York, and also caused extensive power outages in all the major areas of the city.
Commenting on the decision of closing markets for the two days, Euronext said, “We support the consensus of the markets and the regulatory community that the dangerous conditions developing as a result of Hurricane Sandy will make it extremely difficult to ensure the safety of our people and communities, and safety must be our first priority.
“We will work with the industry to determine the next steps in restoring trading as soon as the situation permits.”
If markets open tomorrow, New York Stock Exchange’s Arca exchange will start operation as an electronic only platform.
