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Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Get up to date on what's moving global markets this morning.

Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day
Federal Reserve Bank Headquarters in New York, U.S. (Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

In a shock move, the Federal Reserve slashed U.S. interest rates to near zero thanks to the coronavirus’s far-reaching implications for global growth. Investors are bracing for yet another week of market volatility. And concerns are emerging that the Group of Seven won’t be able to match the crisis response of the past. Here are some of the things people in markets are talking about today.

The Federal Reserve on Sunday cut its benchmark rate by a full percentage point to near zero and will boost its bond holdings by $700 billion to cushion the U.S. economy from the coronavirus outbreak. The central bank also announced several other actions, including letting banks borrow from the discount window for as long as 90 days and reducing reserve requirement ratios to zero percent. The Fed, along with other major central banks, also lowered the rate on standing U.S. dollar liquidity swap arrangements by 25 basis points. The Fed’s action also comes less than two weeks after it slashed rates by a half percentage point in an emergency move that failed to reassure nervous investors. Earlier, New Zealand’s central bank slashed its benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points as strict border controls to curb the coronavirus look set to tip the economy into recession. 

The dollar weakened after the Fed’s shock move aimed to cushion the world’s largest economy from the impact of the coronavirus. The yen and Australian dollar surged. Traders expect more market volatility this week amid doubts that Friday’s rally in U.S. equities can be sustained. The S&P 500 Index rallied 9.3% Friday. The moves from policy makers follow the recent tumble in equity markets and a tightening in financial conditions, with businesses feeling the strain of reduced global activity. Over the weekend, the U.S. extended its travel ban to more countries and cases continued to surge in Europe, while airlines continue to take drastic measures to weather the collapse in travel. Read more in the virus update.

There is mounting concern that global policy coordination may prove a stretch for the system of international cooperation built around the Group of Seven that has been creaking ever since U.S. President Donald Trump was elected on his “America First” platform in 2016. Trump, as the host of G-7, had to be persuaded into holding an emergency call Monday and European leaders are not optimistic about the outcome to calm markets. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron are already feeling bruised after Trump closed U.S. airports to flights from Europe without consulting them. Now they seek a commitment that it won’t happen again and a plan to coordinate on economic stimulus, officials said. 

Data on China’s industrial output, investment and retail sales due Monday are forecast to show an across-the-board contraction for the first time on record, evidence of the extent to which the coronavirus has ravaged the economy. The data is released on a combined basis to account for the normal seasonal swings around the Lunar New Year holiday. The epidemic and attempts to slow its spread suddenly paralyzed China’s economy during that break, forcing consumers to cut spending and stay home, factories to extend their production halt, and trapping millions of people far from where they work. That crippled activity across the economy, with car and home sales slumping, and trade and travel interrupted. Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China Friday cut the amount of cash that banks have to set aside as reserves, injecting funds into the world’s second-largest economy.

Scandinavian airline SAS will temporarily lay off up to 10,000 employees, or 90% of its workforce, in response to the fallout from the coronavirus and related measures from authorities that have restricted international air travel. It stressed it’s not intended to lead to permanent layoffs.  Air New Zealand  will slash its long-haul capacity by 85%, suspend some routes to North America and Asia and begin job cuts amid travel restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, U.S. airports struggled to cope over the weekend with crowds of travelers, including many returning from Europe, who faced new screening measures hastily announced last week by the White House, and passenger numbers at Hong Kong airport slumped 68% in February from a year earlier.

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To contact the editor responsible for this story: Alyssa McDonald at amcdonald61@bloomberg.net

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