Asian stock markets, US futures sink after Fed’s rate cut – By Joe Mcdonald (Associated Press) / March 16 2020
BEIJING – Asian stock markets and U.S. futures fell Monday after the Federal Reserve slashed its key interest rate to shore up economic growth in the face of mounting global anti-virus controls that are shutting down business and travel.
Sydney’s benchmark plunged 7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2%. Shanghai was down 0.5% and Tokyo was flat. Brent crude, the international oil standard, fell 3% while gold gained.
On Wall Street, futures for the benchmark S&P 500 index fell 5% on Sunday night and triggered a halt in trading.
The Fed cut its key rate by a full percentage point – to a range between zero and 0.25% – and said it would stay there until it feels confident the economy can survive a near-shutdown of activity in the United States.
“Despite whipping out the big guns,” the Fed’s action is “falling short of being the decisive backstop for markets,” said Vishnu Varathan of Mizuho Bank in a report. “Markets might have perceived the Fed’s response as panic, feeding into its own fears.”
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