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NEW YORK - The New York Stock Exchange plans to close one of the five rooms on its trading floor over the next 18 months, shrinking that space for the first time in more than a century as more shares change hands electronically.
The room being shut occupies 10,000 sq ft at 30 Broad Street in downtown Manhattan and was opened six years ago, at the height of the technology-stock bubble. It's home to 33 floor brokerages and Bear Wagner Specialists, a unit of Bear Stearns. They will be relocated, with trading of 503 stocks, including Citigroup, Xerox and NYSE, the exchange's parent company.
The decision reflects the shift at the world's largest stock exchange to more computer-based trading after 214 years dominated by face-to-face haggling.
Last month, the Big Board began lifting some restrictions on electronic transactions.
"It's an indication that the advent of hybrid will reduce the footprint of the floor," said one trader. "When they shut the garage, then you know the end is near."
- BLOOMBERG
