Nymex Ends Session After Evacuation

The New York Mercantile Exchange remained closed and the exchange was forced to scrap a planned two-hour Internet trading session after employees were ordered to leave the building.

The exchange is about a block from the World Trade Center, but was undamaged in Tuesday’s attack. The building was cleared Thursday “for safety reasons,” but Nymex officials hoped to attempt a few hours of trading today on their electronic trading system, a spokeswoman said.

The New York Mercantile Exchange is North America’s primary trading forum for energy and precious metals through an open-outcry system and an overnight electronic trading operation.