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The New York Stock Exchange is still closed for the second consecutive day as parts of Manhattan, United States’ financial centre, is flooded with seawater, filling subways and tunnels, and portions of the city lost power brought about by Sandy, which has lost its hurricane status after approaching the coast.
In a statement today, NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the two hundred year old trading platform decided to close the exchange and said it intends to resume trading by Wednesday, 31st October 2012, “conditions permitting”.
“Updates will be provided tomorrow,” NYSE Euronext said late Monday.
The closure meant no US equities, bonds, options, and derivatives markets will be able to trade today.
Settlement of treasury securities, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which still sold them on Monday, was moved from its schedule today to tomorrow, while purchasing of the same negotiable instruments is postponed indefinitely.
“The schedule of Treasury security operations will be updated in the coming days with details of the rescheduled operation,” Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in a statement on Monday.
Agency mortgage-backed securities trading is also postponed until Wednesday,
What It Means
New York Stock Exchange closing for two consecutive days is the first in over a century, the last time this happened was when blizzards fell in New York and surrounding states in 1888 and covered the land with thick snow.
Market reaction over the latest update on consumer spending, which grew by 0.8% last September, will have to wait until markets re-opened on Wednesday.
Chief Executive of NYSE Euronext, Duncan Niederauer, acknowledged the improbability of the trading floor opening on Tuesday as transport systems are unavailable due to the inundated conditions, limited supply of electricity, and the active order to evacuate the Big Apple.
Sandy has delayed released of quarterly reports of listed companies and potentially the monthly job data, which is considered as a major issue in this year’s US presidential elections to be held next week.
Air and land transport across the Eastern seaboard have been put to a halt as the National Hurricane Centre warned Sandy still packs “hurricane-force winds” as at 11 PM EDT (3 AM GMT).
Total economic damage Sandy will have wrought is estimated at US$20 billion, according to disaster experts.
