VOA常速英语:After Sandy, Wall Street Closed for 2nd Day

A day after Hurricane Sandy caused severe flooding and power outages to more than 7 million customers in the Northeastern United States, officials in the hard-hit New York metropolitan area are assessing the damage. Jeff Swicord reports on the impact of closing Wall Street for two days.

Major U.S. stock and bond markets were closed again on Tuesday, a day after Hurricane Sandy swept through New York City.

The area around Wall Street was part of a mandatory evacuation zone, and with the storm surge, water rose above seawalls - flooding streets in lower Manhattan.

This is the first time since 1888 that bad weather forced the New York Stock Exchange to close for two consecutive days.

The timing of the storm could be difficult for Wall Street. At the end of each month, fund managers price their portfolios for clients.

Market analyst Michael Farr, author of The Arrogance Cycle, says losing two days of trading can make it difficult to assess the real value of stocks and mutual funds.

“They have to be priced with real market-time prices. If you don’t have a real market print you have to show the last close. So you really don’t get an accurate sense," said Farr.

Experts say closing the stock market can have an impact on world markets.

“And it kind of brings a lot of commerce to a halt, not completely of course," said Farr.

Damages caused by Hurricane Sandy are estimated at $20 billion, plus $30 billion more in lost business, according to IHS Global Insight, a financial forecaster. Some economists say the storm could cut 0.6 percent from U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter of the year.