Federal Reserve announces first emergency rate cut since the financial crisis

• The Federal Reserve slashed interest rates by half a percentage point on Tuesday, a bold attempt to give the US economy a jolt in the face of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.
• It was the first unscheduled, emergency rate cut since 2008, and it also marks the biggest one-time cut since then. The new benchmark interest rate is a range of between 1% and 1.25%.
• Although the fundamentals of the US economy remain strong, "the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity," the central bank said in a statement.
• The emergency rate cut came as somewhat of a surprise: Although the stock market soared Monday in expectation of a rate cut (the market predicted a 100% chance of a cut in March), the Fed and other central banks had seemingly pooh-poohed the notion as recently as Tuesday morning.
• Although a rate cut won't cure infections or fix broken supply chains, "it will help boost household and business confidence," Powell noted. 

(Source: CNBC)