Wall Street

Wall Street is part of the Financial District in New York City and one of the most iconic streets in the world.

It is synonymous with US financial markets, and home to the world’s two largest stock exchanges by market capitalization – the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.

The area is also home, be it presently or historically to many other key exchanges.

This includes the New York Mercantile Exchange, the New York Board of Trade, the New York Futures Exchange (NYFE), and the former American Stock Exchange, all of which at one time headquartered on Wall Street.

Impact of Wall Street on Financial Markets

The direct economic impacts of Wall Street activities extend beyond New York City. The term itself carries enormous weight as a central hub in the financial community, including multiple markets.

This includes publicly traded companies that are traditionally lumped into this designation.

Wall Street still retains its importance as a strategic location worldwide where a number of financial institutions are based.

However, over several decades the globalization of finance has led to many financial institutions being established elsewhere.

Wall Street is also important in the media, commonly representing the “Street”. This term is routinely used when discussing markets, stocks, or even financial data or consensuses.

The US market and by extension, Wall Street is open from its usual trading hours from 9:30 EST to 16:00 EST, Monday to Friday.

Wall Street has also been famously depicted in movies and television series given its iconic status in the US.