PHIL CHETWYND, New York | Tuesday
WITH fists punching the air and cheers engulfing the vast trading floor, the world’s biggest stock exchange came back to life on Monday after its longest closure in 70 years, and fended off disaster.
”Welcome back to the greatest market on the face of the earth,” proclaimed New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso as he opened the market, and then watched the Dow Jones Index slide more than seven percent.
However while few traders considered the 684,81 point slide a satisfying day’s work, most were relieved the market avoided meltdown and the trading systems functioned more or less without a hitch.
”Put it this way, it could have been a lot worse,” said Randy Carsten, a dealer with a major Japanese bank, as he puffed out his cheeks and slung his green trading jacket over one shoulder.
Ray Keating, a systems analyst at Morgan Stanley, agreed: ”I think most people on Wall Street were just relieved to get back to work.”
The trying day began with tenacious stock market chief Grasso assembling a galaxy of big hitters on the balcony above the exchange — including Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill — in an attempt to instill confidence following last week’s terror attack that levelled the twin towers of the World Trade Center.
Below them, around 3 000 traders wearing their trademark brightly coloured jackets ceased their shuffling and backchat as the exchange fell silent in memory of the 5 000 feared dead in last Tuesday’s terrorist attack.
For two long minutes nothing moved. Some traders put a comforting arm around colleagues but most just looked glumly at the floor. – Sapa-AFP