Coronavirus: Federal Reserve cuts rates to zero and launches $700 billion quantitative easing program

Dramatic emergency action from central bank as US braces for recession amid outbreak

The Federal Reserve is cutting interest rates down to near-zero as the US economy absorbs a massive blow following the coronavirus pandemic, though stock futures plummeted despite the stimulus.

In a statement, the US central bank said: "The coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries ... The Federal Reserve is prepared to use its full range of tools to support the flow of credit to households and businesses."

Among a suite of programmes to combat the economic fallout from the global threat of the Covid-19 virus, the Fed will slash interest rates and increase its holdings of US Treasury securities by at least $500bn in addition to an increase of government mortgage-backed securities by another $200bn, in the hopes of lowering the costs of longer-term debts and bolstering the struggling housing market.

That dramatic $700bn snap mirrors the Fed's quantitative easing actions amid the financial crisis in 2008.

Despite the boost, stock market futures on Sunday night hit "limit down" levels of 5 per cent or lower, with Dow Jones average futures off by more than 1,000 points.

In a statement announcing the rate drop from one full percentage point to .25 per cent, the central bank said: "The effects of the coronavirus will weigh on economic activity in the near term and pose risks to the economic outlook. ... The Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals. This action will help support economic activity, strong labour market conditions, and inflation returning to the Committee's symmetric 2 per cent objective."

Following the move, Donald Trump said the decision makes him "very happy".

He said: "I think that people in the market should be very thrilled."

The move marks the second massive emergency action from the Fed within the last two weeks after interest rates were slashed by a percentage point on 3 March, its first emergency rate cut since the 2008 financial crisis, as the market saw historic plunges and entered a bear market.

Last week, the Fed increased its liquidity with an unprecedented $1.5tn injection into the economy as Wall Street suffered significant losses after the president announced a Europe travel ban and the number of coronavirus cases exploded across the US.