CME Group will close trading floor until further notice amid coronavirus

Chicago-based exchange CME Group Inc., CME, -5.95% said on Wednesday that it will close its trading floor at the end of the week, as fear of the spread of COVID-19 grips financial markets. The trading floor will be closed as of March 13 until further notice, according to a spokeswoman, who said that the exchange platform was taking extra precautions with its staff as the infectious disease that was first identified in Wuhan, China has spread to more than 100 countries in the past three months and infected more than 124,000 people, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Trading on the world’s largest exchange operator by market capitalization, which handles trading in futures contracts like gold GCJ20, -0.39% and other commodities will be handled electronic via a system know as Globex. It was not clear if that would then result in no settlements for derivatives and futures like gold, which use human traders to “settle” at the end of each session. The CME Group said that no coronavirus cases had been reported on its trading floor or in the Chicago Board of Trade building. “The reopening of the trading floor will be evaluated as more medical guidance on the coronavirus becomes available,” said in a statement. CME Group’s market capitalization was $69.7 billion as of the close of trading Wednesday. Shares of the exchange operator ended the session down nearly 6%. By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -5.85% finished Wednesday trade off 5.9% and fell into a bear market, widely defined as a fall from a recent peak of at least 20%. The S&P 500 index SPX, -4.88% also closed off sharply, down 4.9%, in a broad market selloff partially prompted by intensifying concerns about the viral outbreak that was declared a pandemic earlier Wednesday by the World Health Organization.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cme-group-will-close-trading-floor-until-further-notice-amid-coronavirus-outbreak-2020-03-11