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NYSE to shut down trading floor Monday due to Chinese virus

The Big Board’s famous trading floor is about to go dark. The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday said its COVID-19 screening process has yielded two positive tests. As a result, the exchange said it will close its physical trading floor on Monday, March 23, and move to a fully electronic trading system. “They’re finally …

The Big Board’s famous trading floor is about to go dark.

The New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday said its COVID-19 screening process has yielded two positive tests. As a result, the exchange said it will close its physical trading floor on Monday, March 23, and move to a fully electronic trading system.

“They’re finally shutting it down,” one NYSE insider told The Post. “It’s a relief, to be honest.”

A source familiar with the NYSE’s plans said the decision to stay open for two more days is to facilitate an orderly transition and not disrupt stock trading at a time of increased volatility.

The historic exchange, popularly known as the Big Board, has closed down temporarily during other crises, including during the 9/11 aftermath. But this will be the first time it will continue to trade electronically while shutting off access to the physical trading floor, known for its animated traders.

“All NYSE markets will continue to operate under normal trading hours despite the closure of the trading floors,” NYSE President Stacey Cunningham assured Wall Street in a statement.

Until Wednesday, Cunningham had been holding firm in her decision to keep the trading floor open — even as she took unusual steps to rein in the coronavirus threat.

The NYSE, for example, had cut back on staff so the people remaining could practice “social distancing.” And as The Post reported Monday, it had begun taking staff temperatures at the entrance every morning.

It was the temperature checks that did them in. The two NYSE employees who tested positive — a floor trader and an NYSE employee — “were screened at the NYSE security checkpoint,” NYSE told traders.

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