The NYSE had resisted closing down the floor—a key part of its brand and image—even as other exchanges around the U.S. and abroad had shut their trading floors, and officials had warned against gatherings of large groups of people.
“We believe all exchanges should be able to run electronically in this day and age, thereby not unnecessarily putting people at risk in this environment,” Tal Cohen, head of U.S. markets at Nasdaq, said in an interview earlier this week.