The longest weather-related U.S. trading suspension in 124 yearshas left money managers with one day instead of three to adjusttheir holdings before the fiscal year ends for more than 20 percentof them.

The closure of American exchanges during Hurricane Sandyoccurred during the last week of the fiscal year for 1,521 U.S.mutual funds, according to data compiled by Morningstar Inc. Withtwo days lost, demand from managers who want to buy and sell sharesfor tax and performance reasons may surge today, said Donald Selkinof New York-based National Securities Corp.

While NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Niederauersays the market will be prepared should trading be lighter ascustomers stay home, Selkin, a 36-year veteran of Wall Street, saidconcentrated buying and selling by funds may have the oppositeeffect. Money managers have more impetus to appeal to clients aftermore than $440 billion was pulled from mutual funds since 2008,data compiled by Bloomberg and the Investment Company Instituteshow.

“You don't know how much they've done already,” Selkin, thechief market strategist at National Securities, which manages about$3 billion, said in a phone interview from his home on the UpperWest Side of Manhattan. “That could be the wild card — how muchthey have to cram in tomorrow.”

Managers use the last week of the fiscal year to lock in gainsand sell falling stocks before reporting results to investors andtax authorities, Peter Sorrentino, a Cincinnati-based money managerwho helps oversee $14.7 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors Inc.,said in a telephone interview. The fiscal year ends today for about21 percent of U.S. open-end mutual funds, the second most afterDecember when 1,567 funds report, according to Chicago-basedMorningstar.

American equity markets were closed yesterday and today, thefirst consecutive shutdowns because of weather in more than acentury. The last comparable closure of the New York Stock Exchangewas on March 12 and 13, 1888, when a blizzard dumped 21 inches ofsnow on New York, according to the company's website.

The decision to restart stocks was announced yesterday instatements by NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and Bats GlobalMarkets Inc. Fixed-income trading, halted at noon on Oct. 29, willalso reopen, under a recommendation by the Securities Industry andFinancial Markets Association.

Fewer shares may change hands today because brokers won't beable to get to the office, said Sean Gambino, who trades consumerstocks for Schottenfeld Group LLC. New York's subways may takeweeks to be restored, Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman JoeLhota said at a news conference yesterday.

Priority List

The average daily volume on U.S. exchanges through Oct. 26 was6.5 billion shares, the lowest since at least 2009, Bloomberg datashow.

“People's homes are ruined, getting into work is not going to beon their priority list,” Gambino said in an interview from NewYork. “There will be big volatility tomorrow.”

U.S. equity trading in the past has been below average afterstorms hit New York City. Volume following Hurricane Irene on Aug.28, 2011, was 13 percent below the one-year average, according todata compiled by Bloomberg. After a snowstorm hit the U.S. EastCoast, the number of shares changing hands from Dec. 28-31, 2010,was 19 percent less than the average from the same time during 2008and 2009.

“If the market is a little thinner tomorrow, it'll be good thatwe have market makers around to maintain a stable market,”Niederauer said yesterday. He spoke in an interview on BloombergTelevision with Matt Miller.

NYSE plans to operate the floor with at least 100 peopleincluding designated market makers and other personnel tomorrow,Larry Leibowitz, the chief operating officer, said in a phoneinterview. All NYSE-listed companies will be represented by theirmarket makers, though the firms may not be “fully staffed,” hesaid.

Brokers and trading firms may experience “spotty connectivityproblems” when they access markets tomorrow, Leibowitz said. Hepredicted some firms may have trouble finding fuel if they arerunning from backup systems or using generators.

The company's main data center for its U.S. markets in Mahwah,New Jersey, “cut over to backup power as a precaution yesterday”and may be back on full power later today, Leibowitz said. Heexpects all NYSE Euronext exchanges run out of the Mahwah facilityto operate normally tomorrow.

Steven Starker, co-founder of BTIG LLC, the New York-basedbroker dealer that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has a minority stakein, said that his firm will be open for trading today. Stock volumewill be “very active” after four days without an open U.S. equitymarket, he said.

Many fund managers need adjust their holdings at the end of themonth, he said. “You're going to get people that certainly areanxious to move around parts of their portfolios.”

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