Terrorist Attack Strikes at Heart of Financial District

Sept. 11 -- Wall Street turned its horrified attention to casualties and the ongoing rescue efforts following the collapse today of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in a terrorist attack.

Wall Street exchanges did not open today, and other U.S. markets halted trading after hijacked commercial airliners crashed into the World Trade Center towers as well as the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane crashed near Pittsburgh.

The New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq exchange will all be closed Wednesday. The markets also plan to decide Wednesday when trading will resume.

"Our nation's financial markets are strong and resilient," said Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill today. "In the face of today's tragedy, the financial system functioned extraordinarily well and I have every confidence that it will continue to do so in the days ahead."

In New York, stock futures plunged before market trading was suspended indefinitely before the opening bell. In Chicago, businesses, stock and commodities exchanges were evacuated.

Harvey Pitt, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said trading will resume as soon as it is practical to do so.

The Federal Reserve reported it is prepared to provide additional money to nation's banking system as needed following the apparent attacks. The promise to supply additional money to the banking system was similar to a pledge that the Fed issued on the morning after the October 1987 stock market crash, when the market plunged by more than 500 points in one day of trading.

Global Markets Rocked By the News

Foreign financial markets fell sharply on news of the attacks. The London FTSE index plummeted 5.7 percent, its biggest one-day fall since 1987, wiping out $98 billion off the value of shares.

Stocks were down 7½ percent in Paris and 9.2 percent in Germany.

Traders in Europe were in mourning, afraid they had lost colleagues and friends in the carnage. "We are in shock," said one equity dealer in London. "The implications are huge. What happens now?"