National day of mourning: U.S. stock markets closed today in honor of President George H. W. Bush

“President George Herbert Walker Bush, who died Nov. 30 at the age of 94, will be remembered at a National Cathedral memorial service in Washington on Wednesday, which has been designated a national day of mourning by President Donald Trump,” Mark DeCambre writes for MarletWatch. “It is the first such farewell to a president in over a decade.”
“U.S. flags will fly at half-staff, and U.S. markets, including trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, will grind to a halt in honor of the U.S.’s 41st president,” DeCambre writes. “The last time the market closed to mark the death of a president was on Jan. 2, 2007, in the wake of President Gerald Ford’s death.”

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are greeted by President George W. Bush and Laura Bush at Blair House. pic.twitter.com/OZixrOgpNo
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 4, 2018

“Beyond Wall Street closures, Bush’s funeral could result in another development that is important to markets: a delay in a prospective government shutdown,” DeCambre writes. “According to reports, Trump may support a two-week delay of any government-shutdown battle over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall until after Bush’s funeral. Government funding is set to expire on Dec. 7 for key departments, including the Department of Homeland Security.”
“The funeral for Bush, the father of the 43rd president, comes amid renewed optimism for investors after key market bugaboos were removed, at least for the moment,” DeCambre writes. “Trump’s temporary truce with President Xi Jinping over U.S.-China trade and the Federal Reserve’s dovish communications have underpinned recent buying in assets perceived as risky.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: R.I.P., President George Herbert Walker Bush.

MacDailyNews Note: Here’s a list of U.S. offices and agencies that will be closed today (via CBS News):
• President Trump has issued an executive order to close the federal government. Most federal employees will be given the day off, unless they cannot be excused for national security, defense or other essential reasons.
• Some national parks may be closed or have limited services to visitors.
• The New York Stock Exchange will suspend normal trading and the Nasdaq will also close for the day.
• The US Postal Service will only make limited package deliveries and will “suspend regular mail deliveries, retail services and administrative office activity.”
• The US Supreme Court has delayed arguments for the day.
• Maine Governor Paul R. LePage called President Bush “Maine’s president” in an order closing executive departments in the state, where the Bush family has a summer home. “The Bush family’s active participation in the Kennebunkport community has touched many lives. During his presidency, national and world leaders came to Walker’s Point to address issues of national and international importance in the peaceful and beautiful setting of the Maine coast in the summer,” he said.
• Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order to close state agencies, offices and departments. President Bush will be laid to rest Thursday at his presidential library on the Texas A&M University campus, where his wife Barbara and their daughter Robin are also buried.
SEE ALSO:
Apple CEO Cook on the passing of President George H.W. Bush: ‘We have lost a great American’ – December 1, 2018