Superstorm Sandy will close U.S. stock markets for a second day today as Wall Street turned its attention to whether markets would be able to resume functioning on the month's final trading day.
U.S. stock markets closed on Monday due to weather for the first time in 27 years. Bond markets closed early, at noon, as winds and waves lashed the Eastern seaboard.
NYSE Euronext and Nas-daq OMX Group, the largest two U.S. exchange operators, said they intend to reopen today, conditions permitting. The bond markets will close today, with traders aiming to reopen on Wednesday.
Today is a key trading day because it marks the end of the month, when traders price portfolios. With New York feeling the full impact of the storm Monday evening, fears increased that wind damage and power outages could test the ability of markets to reopen. New York's mass transit system, which most employees use to get to work, remained shut and it was unclear when service would be restored.
Fierce winds and flooding were felt along hundreds of kilometres of Atlantic coastline as the centre of the storm moved ashore along the coast of southern New Jersey on Monday evening.
The broad effects of the market shutdown were beginning to become more apparent by late Monday, as analysts estimated banks and trading firms could lose tens of millions of dollars in revenue.
Some companies postponed their quarterly earnings reports, and banks closed branches in the Northeast, while promising to waive certain fees in storm-threatened areas.
Disaster modelling company Eqecat said the storm is likely to cause insured losses of $5 billion to $10 billion, and economic losses of $10 billion to $20 billion.
The trading closure also threatened to delay IPOs of at least six companies, while Facebook employees were prevented from selling shares in the social media company after a "lock-up" on trading expired.
"If you go two days, you really start to create some serious financial stress for some players that need to get something done," said Jim Paulsen, of Wells Capital.
