US equities markets were slated to resume trading after superstorm Sandy swept through the northeastern US, killing more than 40 people, shutting out power to millions, and swamping much of New York City.
The superstorm prompted NASDAQ and NYSE to close for two days in the first forced closures of the markets since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11, 2001.
Much of Manhattan was left without electricity and parts of New York City were evacuated in the path of the storm, which swept the country from North Carolina to the Canadian border.
‘We are pleased to be able to return to normal trading tomorrow,’ says NYSE Euronext chief executive Duncan Niederauer, in a statement.
‘Our building and systems were not damaged and our people have been working diligently to ensure that we have a smooth opening… Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and communities suffering in the wake of this terrible natural disaster.’
Although the highest profile damage was caused in New York City, ranging from building collapses to swinging cranes, raging fires that consumed more than 100 homes, and flooded streets to blackened night skylines, New Jersey was the state hardest hit by the storm, where Atlantic City was nearly submerged and large areas of coastlines were under water.
Hours before the scheduled start of Wednesday trading on the NYSE, Wall Street was still littered with debris and many major investors were still running their operations from makeshift headquarters outside of Manhattan.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could be as long as three days before the city’s power supply is fully restored after cuts affected more than 750,000 residents.
NYSE’s chief operating officer, Larry Leibowitz, told Bloomberg News that the stock exchange would be generating its own electricity through diesel generators and that the trading floor was not damaged by the superstorm.
Although officials are still combing wreckage and attempting to estimate the cost of recovery, private consultants estimate that superstorm Sandy likely caused as much as $20 billion in property damage.
Besides the damage to roads, building, bridges and other infrastructure, Consultancy IHS Global Insight says time off work, the recovery period and other factors could trim 0.6 percentage points off annualized gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter of this year.
