With NYSE opening bell, Wall Street reopens after Sandy

The stock market reopened, apparently without a hitch, after Hurricane Sandy forced a two-day shutdown of Wall Street.

Major U.S. indexes had a mixed opening on what exchange officials said could be a cautious trading day, perhaps marked by early volatility.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 63 points, or 0.5%, to 13,170 shortly after the opening bell. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index was up 5 points, or 0.4%, to 1,417. The Nasdaq was down 6 points, or 0.2%, to 2,981.

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Investors have not bought or sold stocks since Friday. Aside from Sandy, which affected industries like insurance, investors have not been able to digest a host of corporate earnings releases or economic data. On Friday, the U.S. Department of Labor will release October’s employment report, the last major jobs report ahead of November’s presidential election.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYSE Euronext chief executive Duncan Niederauer rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, as much of Lower Manhattan remains without power.

In an interview with CNBC from the stock exchange’s floor, Niederauer said he regretted the industry didn’t act sooner to close markets ahead of Sandy.

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The industry and regulators initially decided to keep markets open Monday, before Sandy struck, but later reversed course.

“I wish we would have made that decision sooner,� Niederauer said.

The last time the New York Stock Exchange closed for two days because of weather happened in 1888, because of a blizzard.

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National Weather Service East Coast websites in limited operation