The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to zero and launched a massive quantitative easing program in an emergency move on Sunday.
was down more than 6% in early trade as the sectors declined, with the heavily weighted financial subindex dropping beyond 6% as shares of the country's major banks saw steep declines.
Meanwhile, futures pointed to a lower open for Japanese stocks. The Nikkei futures contract in Chicago was at 17,215 while its counterpart in Osaka was at 17,920. That compared against theInvestors will watch for market reaction to the Fed's latest actions. 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%-0.25% down from a target range of 1% to 1.25%..
That comes as officials around the world raced to implement measures to combat the economic impact of the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak. For its part, the Fed said "the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the United States."
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