Wall Street makes plans to open Monday despite hurricane

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - New York-based stock exchanges are sending officials into Manhattan today to stay in hotels and coworkers' homes as the NYSE and Nasdaq prepare to open for business on Monday, even as Hurricane Sandy closes off public transportation links.

Hurricane Sandy is expected to slam into the East Coast tomorrow night, bringing torrential rains, high winds, severe flooding and power outages, forecasters said. The rare "super storm" created by an Arctic jetstream wrapping itself around a tropical storm, could be the biggest to hit the U.S. mainland.

New York's subway, bus and rail systems will suspend service by 7 pm on Sunday (7 am Singapore time), Governor Andrew Cuomo said, which means there will be no public transportation into or within the city. About 8.5 million commuters use the Metropolitan Transit Authority's rail, bus and subway lines daily.

A spokesman for NYSE Euronext said after the Mr Cuomo announcement that the New York Stock Exchange was monitoring the situation but still planned to open for trading on Monday. A spokesman for Nasdaq OMX Group referred Reuters'inquiry to a previous statement that said the Nasdaq would open for trading as normal tomorrow.