The New York Stock Exchange’s 213-year existence as a not-for-profit institution ended Tuesday as it closed its $9 billion acquisition of all-electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc. On Wednesday morning the new company, NYSE Group Inc., began trading just like any other stock on the floor of the Big Board.
As he often does, John Thain presided over the opening of trading, but this time, the exchange’s chief executive ushered in the first-ever trading of the combined NYSE/Archipelago stock, under the symbol NYX. Shares opened at $64.25 and rose to $70.80 in early trading on the NYSE.
