CME Group announced on Wednesday night it will close its Chicago trading floor in a precautionary move due to the coronavirus outbreak.
CME Group says its exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform.
The closing will take effect on Friday “at the close of business,” CME said noting that no coronavirus cases have been reported at the Chicago Board of Trade trading floor.
CME said floor traders in Chicago will receive an “additional q&a” on Thursday “related to the execution of certain floor products, procedures and protocols and other floor-related practices.”
Presumably trading will continue via electronic platforms despite the shut down of the physical floor, but speculation has been running about this.
CME’s announcement comes after several companies advised employees to work from home in an effort to prevent contagion from the virus.
This would make CME the first major U.S. exchange to close a trading floor due to concerns over the coronavirus. The New York Stock Exchange is taking precautionary measures as well, working to separate traders and other employees, according to a Reuters report citing an internal memo.