From SF Gate earlier:
The New York Stock Exchange and New York Mercantile Exchange canceled floor trading as Hurricane Sandy barreled toward New York City with the threat of a 10-foot storm surge and winds of 70 miles per hour.
The market operators said trading would occur normally on their electronic platforms. NYSE Euronext took the action after city and state officials declared emergencies and suspended public transportation, according to a statement on its website. The NYSE plans to maintain the contingency plan for using its Arca exchange through Oct. 30, Joseph Mecane, head of U.S. equities, said on a conference call in which some member firms opposed opening the stock market at all.
“It was a very tough call,” Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext, said in a telephone interview. “It was mostly done out of an abundance of caution. This isn’t a war. Why would we ask for heroic action by putting people in harm’s way and separating them from their families during something that seems like a 100-year storm?”
But now from the AFR:
US stock trading will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday in response to Hurricane Sandy, NYSE Euronext said late on Sunday.
NYSE Euronext, which runs the New York Stock Exchange, had previously said that electronic trading would remain open and that only the exchange’s trading floor would close.
In a statement, the company said 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.”
