Storm will keep markets closed Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) - Stock trading will be closed in the U.S. for a second day Tuesday as Superstorm Sandy bears down on the East Coast. Bond trading will also be closed.

The last time the New York Stock Exchange was closed for weather was in 1985 because of Hurricane Gloria, and it will be the first time since 1888 that the exchange will have been closed for two consecutive days because of weather. The cause then was a blizzard that left drifts as high as 40 feet in the streets of New York City.

The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq said they intend to reopen on Wednesday and would keep investors updated.

Much of the East Coast was at a standstill Monday as the storm approached. Mass transit and schools were closed across the region ahead of the storm hitting land, which was expected to happen later Monday.

Areas around New York's Financial District were part of a mandatory evacuation zone. The storm surge is already pushing water over seawalls in the southern tip of Manhattan.

CME Group's New York trading floor was closed, but its electronic markets for commodities were functioning. Crude oil fell 74 cents to close at $85.54 in electronic trading. CME said electronic trading for commodities would also be open Tuesday.

CME said it would reopen its stock index futures trading Monday night at 6 p.m. ET for overnight electronic trading and keep it open through 9:15 a.m. today. Trading on interest rate futures and options on futures including Treasurys, Eurodollar and Fed Funds would reopen at the same time Monday night and stay open today.

Bond trading will be closed Tuesday. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association called for an early close to bond trading Monday, at 12 noon. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was 1.72 percent, compared with 1.75 percent late Friday.