NYSE delays extended opening

THE NEW YORK Stock Exchange will not extend its trading hours until after 31 December to avoid any complications which might arise because of the millennium bug, the chairman Richard Grasso (pictured) said yesterday.

The NYSE board voted unanimously in favour of the delay, saying that it wanted to wait until potential computer problems due to the transition to 2000 were resolved and until stocks were priced in decimals, rather than fractions as they are now.

The exchange will close at 1pm on New Year's Eve to prepare for the shift to 2000.