US stock exchanges are to remain closed for an unprecedented third consecutive day following the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York. New York Stock Exchange chairman, Dick Grasso, said that officials would meet tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss whether it was feasible to resume trade on Friday.
He said that markets would open Monday at the latest. Government bond markets in the US will open Thursday.
Global financial markets were relatively quiet for much of today as financial traders took heed of a request from the US Federal Reserve to keep dealing in US dollars to a minimum. European Central Bank President, Wim Duisenberg, said the ECB was ready to take action to support the normal functioning of global markets.
There is growing speculation that global central banks are preparing for an emergency co-ordinated reduction in interest rates to support the economy.
Europe's stock markets steadied after initial falls this morning with many investors still trying to work out the economic implications of yesterday's attacks in the United States.
Investors have moved rapidly into gold and bonds, traditional havens in times of crisis, while the political uncertainty also caused the price of oil to surge.
Meanwhile, financial experts have suggested that yesterday's attacks in the US have raised the prospects for world recession because the global economy is highly dependent on US consumer spending. The US economy, weakened by plunging stock markets and an economic slowdown this year, has managed to escape recession thanks to consumer confidence and continuing spending by Americans.
But consumer spending, highly driven by economic perceptions and accounting for two thirds of US gross domestic product (GDP), could be slashed as Americans come to grips with the terrorist attacks that struck the heart of the country's financial and defence centres, in New York and Washington.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 workers at Dublin's International Financial Centre attended an open-air ceremony to pray for those killed or injured in New York.
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