Wall Street set to reopen today

Investors' eyes will be on New York this afternoon, as the city's stock exchanges reopen for business at 14:00(BST) UK time.

The four day closure in the wake of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks is the longest since World War I.

Exchange authorities have been busy testing their systems in preparation for trading, but with so much damage inflicted on the area around Wall Street it is difficult to ascertain whether they will function properly.

Many staff are working away from their usual locations, and no one knows if the telephone capacity or even power supplies will be sufficient to handle demand.

John Thains, president and co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs is quoted in today's FT as saying: "The phone system was quite badly damaged. That will be the biggest issue when we reopen."

This problem could be exacerbated if the volume of trade turns out to be high.

But Richard Grasso, the chairman of the New York stock exchange, told the paper that after tests on Saturday, firms handling 90 per cent of the exchange's business were properly connected.

Nasdaq officials claim that firms accounting for 98 per cent of its trade are also connected.
How things will go once the exchanges reopen are still unclear. Officials have been urging individuals and institutions to avoid any action which would lead to major market disruption.
Indeed, many commentators are expecting a show of patriotism from US investors.

It is also likely that traders will not wish to be seen benefiting from the disaster - a sentiment summed up by one London-based trader silicon.com spoke to the day after the attack last week.

"The usual market cynicism just isn't here - people feel this one - they feel it could have been them. It's horrific," he said. "Investors' appetite for risk has disappeared. The markets are treading water. People are desperately afraid that they'll look like they are trying to take advantage of the situation. No one is even talking about specific equities."

For related news, see
US crisis: Surfers flock to Amazon disaster relief fund
http://www.silicon.com/a47372
US crisis: Adobe puts off results announcement
http://www.silicon.com/a47371
US Crisis: Tech giants pledge millions in aid
http://www.silicon.com/a47365
US crisis: News round-up
http://www.silicon.com/a47348