Nymex votes for metals on screen, could close pits within five years

New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) has taken a step closer to closing its pits after 98% of its shareholders voted in favour of approving a deal that would see it gain electronic trading rights from Comex for its metals products. In the exchange's filing to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) it stated that it could choose to cease all floor trading operations in five years, though many observers said it might become fully electronic some time before that.

The Nymex shareholder vote took place last week and swung overwhelmingly in favour of the exchange paying around $10m and 8,400 shares of Nymex common stock to...