Ahead of Hurricane Sandy, Markets Shut Up Shop

At the same time, SIFMA said that primary dealers would need to decide whether to provide limited staffing on funding desks on Tuesday in order to accommodate any potential open-market operations by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Business Grinds to Halt

In addition, more than 5,000 flights have been canceled along with Amtrak train service in the Northeast corridor, effectively stranding people who had traveled to the East Coast on business ahead of the storm.

For example, Pristine Advisers on Sunday announced the cancellation of its annual closed-end fund conference at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, which was to be held on Tuesday for members of the brokerage community, financial advisors, fund analysts, strategists and high-net-worth and institutional investors. "I appreciate everyone's great attempts in trying to make it in for our conference. At this time the governor of New York has declared it a state of emergency and as such, we unfortunately need to cancel the event," wrote Patricia Baronowski-Schneider, president of Pristine Advisers, in an email. "We have been getting tons of emails from people whose flights and trains have all been canceled and I am now told that the city is shutting down after 5 p.m. tonight—no one will be able to get in or out. For those that have already made it in to New York, we sincerely apologize. This situation is completely out of our control."

Baronowski-Schneider said the event would be rescheduled.

Frankenstorm's impact also has extended to the presidential election. Both President Barack Obama and Republican contender Mitt Romney shuttered campaign events, with Obama canceling a Monday night engagement in Florida with former President Bill Clinton and Romney cancelling visits to Virginia and New Hampshire.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's environmental protection chief, Louis Uccellini, called the projected storm surge "the worst-case scenario" for New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey, according to The Associated Press.

"It threatened to swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and knock out the underground network of power, phone and high-speed Internet lines that are the lifeblood of America's financial capital," the AP reported.