New York Stock Exchange reopens today after historic two day closure

The powerful Superstorm Sandy that hit the east coast of the United States yesterday resulted in a historic closure of the New York Stock Exchange for a historic two days.

Despite rumours of flooding on the trading floor, which were apparently untrue, trading will begin again at 9.30am EST. It's the first time since 1888 that the historic stock exchange has been closed down for two days running.

After flooding affected the island of Manhattan sources reported that the trading floor was under 3 feet of water. This was denied by a press spokesman. In addition to this much of Manhattan remains without power as flooding damaged electricity substations. It has been speculated that the stock exchange building will be run with the help of several generators to ensure the financial wheels of the United States keep turning.

"We have a green light...Tomorrow will not be without hiccups, but will be good enough that the market will be fine," chief operating officer of NYSE Euronext, Larry Leibowitz, told Reuters.

The emergency back up data centre for the New York Stock Exchange is located in Mahwah, New Jersey which is also under a deluge of flood water and structural damage from the storm.

Images: Getty