Markets to mark Sept. 11

LONDON, England -- European financial markets will stop trading for two minutes on September 11 as a mark of respect for the victims of last year's terror attacks in the United States.

At 1246 GMT -- the moment the first hijacked plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York -- the London Stock Exchange, France's Euronext and Italy's Milan bourse plans to fall silent.

The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), Europe's biggest derivatives market, and the Lloyds of London insurance market also plan to halt trade.

And brokerage Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost about 700 employees in the disaster, will come to a standstill on separate moments -- one at 1246 GMT and one at 1429 GMT, when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed.

"Following that we will have an internal memorial service and then we will be closing the office,'' a spokeswoman told Reuters.

About 3,000 people were killed on September 11 when hijackers crashed airliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon building, Washington, and a field in Pennsylvania.

Lloyds of London, the world's oldest insurance market, said it would also hold a service to mark the day and its flags would fly at half-mast.

"This will be a solemn and simple ceremony of remembrance. The tragedy of September 11 struck at the heart of our community. We are closing the market for a short time so that people have a chance to remember and pay their respects,'' a spokesman told Reuters.