New York Stock Exchange to reopen trading floor after over eight-week coronavirus shutdown
The New York Stock Exchange is set to reopen its trading floor on Tuesday, more than eight weeks after it moved all operations to the digital sphere when the coronavirus pandemic sent New York and other parts of the U.S. into lockdown. NYSE President Stacey Cunningham, who worked on the floor during the September 11 terror attacks, told CBS News' Dana Jacobson about why and how they plan to pull off the return as much of New York still sits dormant under coronavirus restrictions.
"It's going to be certainly a very historic moment, and special moment for the traders on the floor," Cunningham said.
While those traders are eager to return, the trading floor they are coming back to will look a bit different. Personal protective equipment like face masks will be required, and social distancing guidelines will be in place. Hand sanitizer dispensers and plastic barriers will be a common presence on the floor.
Not all NYSE employees will be part of the open, either — only about 25% of the normal trader workforce will be on the floor Tuesday.
The decision to close, Cunningham said, was a crucial but clear one. Amid concerns of straining the healthcare system and putting traders and those they come into contact with at risk, she ordered the trading floor to move to digital operations on March 23.
"There is a clarity in crisis," she said. "You know what you need to do and you know when you need to do it."
Though the trading floor has been closed before, such as during the 9/11 attacks, it never in its 227-year history made the shift to fully-digital operations until now.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-new-york-stock-exchange-trading-floor-reopen/
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