By Maria Aspan
Wall Street’s opening bells will be silent on Thursday.
The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will be closed for trading today as the financial industry a it is a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. Global humanitarian He died on December 29100 years old and will be eulogized today at a state funeral in Washington.
The rare midweek trading halt continues a Wall Street tradition that dates back to 1865. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for days after President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.
Since then, US stock markets have been regularly closed to mourn dead presidents. The last one too closure it was in 2018 after his death former president George HW Bush.
When Carter died, the financial industry “collectively decided to honor what he did, his service as president and after he became president,” says Tal Cohen. Nasdaq.
So does NYSE President Lynn Martin praised Carter’s “lifetime of service to our nation” announced in a press release that the stock market was closed for the day.
Not all financial markets get a day off: Bond markets they remain open According to the recommendation of the SIFMA trade association for investment banks and asset managers, until 2 p.m.
It is rare for the stock market to close in the middle of the week. Not always planned: both the NYSE and the Nasdaq closed in response September 11 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Sandy.
Cohen tells NPR that Nasdaq has had some time to prepare for today because Carter died about two weeks ago. His company has made plans with other exchanges, regulators and other parts of the financial industry.
“It was a big deal,” he says. “But we thought it was worth the effort.”
