[Ferro-Alloys.com] In an emergency move on Sunday, US Federal Reserve announced that it is dropping its benchmark interest rate to zero and launching a new round of quantitative easing entailing USD 700 billion worth of asset purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. The new fed funds rate, used as a benchmark both for short-term lending for financial institutions and as a peg to many consumer rates, will now be targeted at 0% to 0.25% down from a previous target range of 1% to 1.25%. The Fed also cut reserve requirements for thousands of banks to zero. The Federal Reserve said “The coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States. We will maintain the rate at this level until we’re confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve our maximum employment and price stability goals.”

 

Stock futures plunged Sunday night even after the Federal Reserve embarked on a massive monetary stimulus campaign to curb slower economic growth amid the coronavirus outbreak. Stock market futures hit “limit down” levels of 5% lower, a move made by the CME futures exchange to reduce panic in markets. Dow Jones Industrial average futures were off by more than 1,000 points, triggering the limit down level. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were also at their downside limits. 

 

The Fed’s announcement came after they issued another emergency rate cut earlier this month. It also comes on the heels of the market’s biggest one-day gain since 2008, with the major averages all surging more than 9% on Friday. （steelguru）