NYSE reopening,
Sandy’s costs could reach $50 billion as eastern seaboard starts its cleanup
NEW YORK — Wall Street was to reopen Wednesday as the world’s financial capital takes a first step in a recovery that Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, warned will take many days.
The New York Stock Exchange, which has been closed for the past two days, will open even though the city’s historic financial district was one of the areas hit hardest by hurricane Sandy when sea water surged onto Manhattan island.
“Our people have been working diligently to ensure that we have a smooth opening,” said Duncan Niederauer, chief executive of the exchange.
The reopening of Wall Street will provide a fillip to New York and surrounding states, such as New Jersey, as they come to terms with the effects of a storm that experts now believe could cost as much as $50 billion U.S.
About eight million homes along the northeast coast of the U.S. remained without power Tuesday night, three nuclear generators had been shut and New York’s three largest airports remained closed. “This was a devastat- ing storm, maybe the worst that we have ever experienced,” Bloomberg said. “Given the magnitude of the storm, we have probably gotten through this better than some people might have thought.”
Many residents and businesses in Manhattan were warned they would probably be without power for the next three or four days. Much of the area south of 35th St., close to the Empire State Building, lost power as flood
“This was a devastating storm, maybe the worst.”
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG
waters swamped generators.
The city’s subway was expected to be closed for the next few days.
Even though the stock exchange will resume trading, the loss of power in an area that is home to the headquarters of some of the biggest banks in the United States — such as Goldman Sachs and Citigroup — will probably mean that activity on Wall Street will not be back to normal until next week.
The combination of the loss of property and the interruption to economic activity along the northeast means hurricane Sandy could prove to be among the most costly storms ever to hit the United States, experts warned. Estimates of the total cost ranged from about $20 billion to as much as $50 billion.
IHS Global Insight, a forecasting company, said Sandy could end up causing $20 billion in property damage, and a further $10 billion to $30 billion in lost business. With the superstorm forecast to hit Pennsylvania and New England — albeit in a less ferocious way — over the next 24 hours, assessing the total cost of the damage will take several days.
As people kept off the roads, however, gas prices fell on Tuesday, with the national average cost of a gallon dropping by the equivalent of a penny to $3.53, more than 11 cents lower than a week ago.
Economists have warned the total impact of the hurricane is likely to be enough to slow U.S. economic growth this quarter. With the presidential election adding extra uncertainty, the storm was the last thing America needed in terms of its recovery.
“This is not going to be a short-term situation,” said Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York state. “This is a long-term recovery and reconstruction effort.”