Intercontinental Exchange To Close Trading Floors Of NYSE

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (NYSE:ICE) has declared to close the trading floors of The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on a temporary basis. The NYSE equities trading floor in New York, the NYSE options trading floor in New York and the NYSE Arca Options trading floor in San Francisco will be shut down.

This decision has been taken as a precautionary measure against the novel coronavirus pandemic, after a trader and a NYSE employee tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. The number of coronavirus cases globally topped 200,000 with more than 8,000 deaths.

The concern about the economic consequences of the pandemic spurred another widespread decline in stock prices, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down over 1,300 points on Wednesday. Many major stock indexes around the world were down more than 4 percent.

The NYSE will commence its business continuity plan ("BCP") and shift to fully electronic trading on Mar 23. Trading and regulatory oversight of all NYSE-listed securities will be operated without any breach.

Intercontinental Global shares were down 8.74% at $70.08 at the close Wednesday. Shares traded higher by 1.88% higher at $71.40 in the after-hours session.

Earlier, NYSE had closed the trading floor for four days after the terrorist attacks on Sep 11, 2001. Then in 2012, the U.S. equity market remained closed for two days due to Hurricane Sandy.

Even though the trading floors assist issuers and investors with unique value, the NYSE market is competent enough to operate in an electronic mode. Despite the closure of the trading floors as precautionary step to protect the health and well-being of employees in response to COVID-19, it is expected that the market will continue to operate under normal trading hours and will remain accessible to investors.

The NYSE is home to 25% of share-trading for companies listed there. It also hosts more than 36% of block trades comprising 10,000 shares or more.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have underperformed the industry in a year’s time. The stock has lost 4.3% compared to the industry’s loss of 4.2%. Nevertheless, solid operational performance is expected to drive shares going forward.

Derivatives exchange operator CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) also closed its Chicago trading floor earlier this month for an indefinite time period. The trading of future contracts will be carried out on CME's electronic trading platform, Globex.

Nasdaq, Inc. (NASDAQ:NDAQ) also declared that it will temporarily shut down its PHLX Options Market trading floor located in Philadelphia on Mar 17, 2020. The trading floor will remain closed until further notice.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NYSE:CBOE) also closed its Cboe Options Exchange (C1) trading floor temporarily at the close of business on Friday, Mar 13, 2020. Trading on C1 will be available in an electronic-only trading mode until further notice.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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