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COVID-19

Traders return to the floor of the NYSE for the first time since late March

Nova Safo May 26, 2020
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Brokers have to sign waivers limiting the NYSE's liability if they’re infected with the novel coronavirus while on the job. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
COVID-19

Traders return to the floor of the NYSE for the first time since late March

Nova Safo May 26, 2020
Heard on:
Brokers have to sign waivers limiting the NYSE's liability if they’re infected with the novel coronavirus while on the job. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

After a period of sheltering at home to slow the spread of COVID-19, some New York Stock Exchange traders return to the floor Monday. There are new health and safety rules in place: face masks, social distancing and no handshakes, among them.

Floor trading is back for the first time since late March when it was suspended. Brokers will be greeted with plexiglass barriers to help maintain distance from each other, and they must submit to temperature checks upon entering the building.

Traders are also asked to avoid public transportation to get to and from work. There’s also no eating on the trading floor, so masks stay on.

Brokers have to sign waivers limiting the stock exchange’s liability if they’re infected with the novel coronavirus while on the job.

Not all floor brokers are returning today, only about 25%. Everyone else will continue to work remotely.


In this age of automation, why are there still people on the New York Stock Exchange floor at all? We took a closer look in the video below.

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