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COVID-19

NYSE president: The stock market is “not necessarily reflective” of the economy

Andie Corban and Kai Ryssdal May 22, 2020
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New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham speaking in 2018. Jewel Samad/Getty Images
COVID-19

NYSE president: The stock market is “not necessarily reflective” of the economy

Andie Corban and Kai Ryssdal May 22, 2020
Heard on:
New York Stock Exchange President Stacey Cunningham speaking in 2018. Jewel Samad/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

The trading floor at the New York Stock Exchange is reopening on Tuesday after being closed for two months. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke with Stacey Cunningham, president of the New York Stock Exchange, about what’s been going on with the stock market.

“The stock market is not necessarily reflective of all elements of the economy,” Cunningham said. Indexes like the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average only represent investor sentiment for a subset of companies. “That’s not capturing what some of the small and midsize businesses who aren’t part of those indexes are going through right now.”

Though Cunningham said all-electronic trading at the NYSE has worked for the past 2 months, she said getting traders back on the floor will mean less volatility.

“What we’re missing when we move to this model when we’ve shut the floor is the value of human judgment,” Cunningham said.

Most employees at the NYSE will continue to work remotely, while 25% of floor brokers will return with new social-distancing measures.

Click the audio player above to hear the interview.

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