NEW YORK—Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, whose headquarters could have been crushed had the World Trade Center buildings collapsed sideways, at press time was scheduled to reopen for business Monday 17 September, after the longest closure since World War II.
In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks that felled three financial center skyscrapers and put several more nearby in similar jeopardy, it remained to be seen whether investors would buy or sell American.
In a survey of 4,600 Americans, whose results Harris Interactive released Sept. 13, 99 percent of respondents said they would not sell their stocks when the markets reopen, although 42 percent expected significant declines in share prices and 37 percent anticipated slight declines.
Lower Manhattan, the portion of the island to the immediate south and north of the World Trade Center, was largely without power in the days following the disaster. In addition, major telecommunications lines, including those for the Big Board, were severed. However, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said early 13 September, about 48 hours after the attack, that city officials has begun allowing “some businesses, especially in financial services, to re-open.”
Acting on what their top executives said is “the sense of a desire in the country to get back to business,” the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange reopened 13 September.