Which U.S. exchange closed for several days after the 1873 financial panic?

The New York Stock Exchange closed for several days after the 1873 financial panic. The exchange suspended trading on September 20, 1873, following the failure of Jay Cooke & Company and the resulting strain on banks and brokers.

The closure reflected the limited ability of nineteenth-century financial institutions to absorb sudden losses and settle transactions. When trading resumed on September 30, the panic had already spread through credit markets and the railroad sector.

The crisis was part of the broader Panic of 1873, which began with the Vienna stock-market collapse in May and later reached the United States. Jay Cooke & Company had helped finance railroads, so its failure sharply damaged confidence in railroad bonds and related investments.

The New York exchange’s closure is sometimes confused with later emergency shutdowns, including the 1914 closure during World War I. The 1873 suspension was specifically tied to the banking and railroad panic.