The New York Stock Exchange and other national stock markets are starting to plan to open for trading on Wednesday, as they work through the second day of darkness due to Hurricane Sandy.
The second day of shutdown is the first time since 1988 that exchange operations have been closed due to a storm.
The trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange was not flooded, despite rumors to the contrary,
NYSE Euronext Sunday said it was prepared to suspend physical trading floor operations and invoke its contingency plans to trade all NYSE-listed securities on its
The exchange operator expects a normal opening on Wednesday, spokesman Eric Ryan said Tuesday morning. This includes the trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange, as well as electronic trading at NYSE Arca.
Nasdaq OMX said it expected its U.S. exchanges and its Trade Reporting Facility will open
The nations four major exchange operators, NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group, BATS Global Markets and Direct Edge, are coordinating their resumption of trading. Should they decide to resume trading Wednesday, they are likely to begin testing their systems today, in preparation.
Testing of NYSE Arca systems are going on, as scheduled, Ryan said, with no unexpected issues.
The planning comes amid record flooding on and near Wall Street. A flood gauge in New York Citys Battery Park, at the southernmost end of Manhattan, registered 13.46 feet as of 8:30 p.m., Bloomberg News reported.
The modern record was 10.02 feet in September 1960 during Hurricane Donna, according to the National Weather Service.
Power was lost in Manhattan river to river, south of 35th Street, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a press briefing.
Some of the blackout was deliberate, Bloomberg News reported, as Consolidated Edison Co. shut off electricity to protect its underground equipment from potential damage.
