New York | Monday
THE eyes of the global financial world will be trained on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, with investors looking for signs that the US economy will be able to bounce back after this week’s devastating terror attacks.
The exchange, located on New York’s legendary Wall Street, is far and away the world’s largest equities market. Its overall capitalization is estimated to be some $17,3-trillion.
More than 3 000 companies are quoted on the exchange, where an average of $44-billion worth of shares were traded each day last year.
For the full year trading was valued at $11,1-trillion.
Together with the smaller American Stock Exchange and the technology-heavy electronic Nasdaq exchange daily transactions surpass 120 billion dollars.
The American exchange has its headquarters near the site of the World Trade Center, an area where Nasdaq also has numerous technical installations.
New York brokerage houses on a typical day earn around $130-million in commissions.
The city’s financial district employs around 100 000 people and uses 3 500 kilowatts of electricity a day. It is held togther by 8 000 telephone circuits.
The NYSE dates from May 17, 1792, when 24 brokers gathered beneath a tree at what is today 68 Wall Street — and decided to launch an exchange. – Sapa-AFP