NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The nation's financial markets will be closed Tuesday to honor former President Gerald Ford, marking a rare four-day closing for U.S. trading.
The New York Stock Exchange said Friday it will be closed on Jan. 2 for the national day of mourning for the 38th president, a day after the Nasdaq stock market said it also will be closed.
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| President Gerald Ford |
Over the last century, the markets have traditionally closed to commemorate the death of a past or sitting president.
Ford, who became the first non-elected U.S. president in 1974, after the threat of impeachment forced the resignation of Richard Nixon, died this week on Tuesday at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.
Separately, the Federal Reserve will be closed Tuesday and has delayed the release of the minutes from its December meeting to Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST. The Fed's 12 regional banks will remain open Tuesday.
With Monday's New Year's Day holiday and Tuesday's closing, the markets will be closed for an unusual four days.
Aside from the stock exchanges, the commodities and futures markets said their main operations will be shut down for the day.
The New York Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange all said their floor trading operations will be closed. The New York Merc metals and energy futures and options markets will close early on Friday.
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, formerly the Bond Market Association, recommended an early close Tuesday. It was closed for an entire day for President Ronald Reagan's funeral. A spokesman could not give a reason for the partial closing.
At his ranch in Crawford, Texas on Thursday, President Bush declared Tuesday a national day of mourning for Ford, closing most federal offices for the day.
Ford's body will be flown to Washington on Saturday and his casket will lie in state at the Capitol. Bush is due to speak at a service in his memory Tuesday, a White House spokesman told Reuters.
During his presidency, Ford sought to calm the turbulence caused by the Vietnam war and Watergate. In his effort to heal this strife, he notably granted Mr. Nixon a "full, free and absolute pardon" from prosecution early in his term of office.
Later on, Ford served on the board of the NASD from 1999-2000, before the Nasdaq stock market was spun off from its former parent. Ford's "leadership and invaluable service during his time on the NASD board contributed to what the Nasdaq is today," Nasdaq CEO Bob Greifeld said in a statement.
The day of a president's funeral has traditionally been a national day of mourning. Most recently financial markets were closed Friday, June 11, 2004, after Reagan died.
Throughout the 20th century, the NYSE traditionally has observed the death of former and sitting presidents by closing for an entire day. Former President William McKinley's funeral was the first to be so honored on Thursday, Sept. 19, 1901.
Five presidents were honored with partial closings: Herbert Hoover (1964), William Howard Taft (1930), Woodrow Wilson (1924), Theodore Roosevelt (1919), and Grover Cleveland (1908).
Benjamin Harrison, whose funeral was held on March 13, 1901, was not honored with a memorial closing. There are no records to indicate the reasoning.
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