New York Stock Exchange will reopen Wednesday

[October 31, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Stock Exchange will reopen for regular trading Wednesday after being shut down for two days because of Hurricane Sandy.

The exchange said in a statement Tuesday that its building and trading floor are fully operational and that normal trading will resume at the usual starting time of 9:30 a.m.

There had been erroneous reports Monday that the exchange floor had flooded. Exchange spokesman Ray Pellecchia said the exchange's building did not have any flooding or damage.

Tuesday marks the first time since 1888 that the NYSE remained closed for two consecutive days because of weather. The earlier shutdown was caused by a massive snow storm.

Sections of Manhattan were inundated with water Tuesday and power was shut off to millions of people and businesses up and down the East Coast.

Dozens of companies have postponed earnings reports this week because of the storm, but Ford Motor Co. did release results for the third quarter that topped Wall Street expectations.

Ford's revenue fell 3 percent to $32.1 billion because of the economic crisis in Europe and falling sales in South America. The company exceeded Wall Street's revenue forecast of $31.5 billion largely because of North America, where revenue jumped 8 percent.

European stock markets rose broadly Tuesday after falling the day before. Trading was subdued in the wake of the storm. Britain's FTSE 100 index rose 0.9 percent, Germany's DAX rose 1.1 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 1.5 percent higher.

Crude oil rose 14 cents to settle at $85.68 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.S. bond trading was closed Tuesday.

Electronic trading for U.S. stock index futures was open, but trading volume was very light and the price moves were minuscule.

As of the regular close of trading at 9:15 a.m., Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 8 points to 13,062. S&P 500 futures added 3.50 points to 1,411.10. Nasdaq futures slipped 3.75 points to 2,655.25.

On Monday, when regular U.S. stock trading was also closed, stock index futures fell slightly.

[Associated Press]

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