Wall Street to open Monday as storm hobbles New York

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street firms prepared to open for business on Monday at least with skeletal staff, booking hotel rooms for key employees and leaning on offices in other cities as Hurricane Sandy forced the New York mass transit system to shut down, leaving tens of thousands of employees stuck at home.

Executives, traders and bankers said they expected a light trading day on Monday - and depending on the impact of the storm, possibly through Tuesday - as some offices in lower Manhattan's Financial District are in an evacuation zone and most non-critical staff were asked to work from home.