U.S. stock, bond and commodity markets will open as usual Monday after Manhattan was spared the worst of Hurricane Irene, avoiding the first weather-related shutdown since 1985. NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group, Bats Global Markets and Direct Edge Holdings LLC — the four biggest operators of equity exchanges in the world’s biggest capital market — sent statements saying they plan normal trading sessions Monday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association recommended no change to bond-market schedules, and CME Group Inc. said the New York Mercantile Exchange will open.
“Exchanges had prepared for the worst, and thankfully the worst didn’t materialize,” Chris Isaacson, chief operating officer at Bats, said in a phone interview. “The U.S. securities industry is very resilient,” he said. “Because of the electronification of markets, most systems are not dependent on humans being there.”
