Thanks Mr. Greenspeak...
Stocks Slump, Fed Disappoints Wall St.
Tuesday March 20, 3:14 pm Eastern Time
<<NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks sank in later afternoon trading on Tuesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve unleashed a deep interest-rate cut to revive the nation's flagging economy, but disappointed investors who had been hoping for an even deeper cut to lift the stock market.
The central bank ratcheted down its bellwether federal funds rate, charged for overnight lending between banks, by 50-basis points to 5.00 percent from 5.50 percent. Wall Street had been hoping the central bank would slash rates by three-quarters of a percentage point, or 75-basis points, as the market suffers sell-off after sell-off.
``(The Fed) is dancing to the music of the economy, and not responding to cries for help from the stock market,'' said David Jones, chief economist at Aubrey G. Lanston & Co.
The technology-dominated Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) lost 50.20 points, or 2.57 percent, at 1,900.98. The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) fell 88.54 points, or 0.89 percent, to 9,870.57. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) dropped 10.55 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,160.26.
The central bank said it still sees excessive weakness as the main threat to the economy, implying it stands ready to cut again if necessary to keep the nation's record economic expansion from stalling out. The Fed now has cut rates three times in 2001, hoping to kick-start the economy with lower borrowing costs that encourage consumers to pull out their wallets and companies to go ahead with big-ticket projects.>> |
