Today's closure of the New York Stock Exchange at the hands of Hurricane Sandy is not the first time it has closed its doors. Still, history has proven the exchange is a hearty institution and the bar is set very high for such a shuttering.
Some of those major closures according to the New York Stock Exchange's website:
1865 — The exchange closed for over a week after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
1873 — Following the failure of Philadelphia bank Jay Cooke & Company on September 19 the stock exchange closed for ten days amid national financial panic.
1914 — World War I lead to the longest closure of the exchange beginning on July 31. It did not open entirely for over four and a half months.
1933 — The exchange closed for President Franklin Roosevelt's bank holiday.
1945 — Markets closed on August 15 & 16 for VJ day, marking the end of World War II.
1963 — The exchange closed early on November 22 after the assassination of President Kennedy.
1985 — This marks the last time the NYSE closed for weather as Hurricane Gloria slammed into the eastern seaboard.
2001 — Markets closed for four days following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
While Hurricane Sandy is expected to batter the East Coast, its market impact is less clear. Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ examined the behavior of the markets following hurricanes. He says in his latest note:
Individually, the market's performance following major hurricanes has been uneven, as equities are more likely driven by wider-reaching global events than localized natural disasters. On average, however, the S&P 500 rose between 3% and 6% in the subsequent one through six months. Of course there is no guarantee that history will repeat itself.
(See Related: Hurricane Irene Could Be Among Costliest U.S. Storms)
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