June 24 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Stock Exchange may extend a temporary reprieve of listing requirements as the U.S. stock market stabilizes following the worst losses since the Great Depression.

“I would imagine that we’ll extend it a little bit longer, but it won’t be a permanent change,” NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Officer Duncan Niederauer told reporters today at the Foreign Press Center in New York. “I just want to be comfortable that most of the companies we were worried about are in the safety zone. Once we get to that point, I would imagine that will go back to our pre-existing rule set.”

NYSE Euronext, the owner of exchanges including New York’s Big Board, and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. both relaxed rules to prevent a wave of delisting after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index plunged 38 percent in 2008, its worst year since 1937. The NYSE suspended until June 30 a requirement that companies maintain a $1 minimum stock price, and a market value of at least $15 million. The reinstatement of all the New York exchange’s requirements had been delayed in April.

On the Big Board today, 31 companies including the video- rental chain Blockbuster Inc. and the auto-parts manufacturer Lear Corp. traded for less than a $1, according to Bloomberg data.

The economy and U.S. stock market have improved, Niederauer said. Measures by the U.S. government and China have spurred those economies, helping lift the S&P 500 by 34 percent since March 9, when it fell to a 12-year-low.

“I do get a sense that we have come through the worst of it already,” he said. “Trading has stabilized and the markets have stabilized quite a bit. The tone generally feels a lot better.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Edgar Ortega in New York at ebarrales@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 24, 2009 18:42 EDT