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| Fed Slashes Key U.S. Rates,
Signals More 降息的背后 |
 People
stop to view stock prices at the Nasdaq Market Site as news of the
sharp rise in stock prices is displayed on a news ticker above them
in Times Square in New York, January 3, 2001. The Nasdaq closed
up 324.83 to 2616.69.
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve slashed key interest rates in a
shock move on Wednesday and said it would do more if needed to keep
the U.S. economy from stalling, electrifying
financial markets worried about a looming
slump.
The move, which came four weeks ahead of the year's first scheduled
meeting of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC),
takes the crucial fed funds overnight bank lending rate to 6 percent.
The cut, which was the first half-percentage point reduction in
that rate since mid-1992, was decided in a hastily
arranged conference call among FOMC members.
To underscore the central bank's iron determination to keep the
economy from sliding into recession, the Fed's Board of Governors
also cut the more symbolic discount rate
on Fed loans to banks by a quarter percentage point to
5.75 percent. It said it was prepared to cut that rate further to
5.5 percent if regional Fed banks requested it.
Financial markets surged within seconds of the Fed news, and U.S.
President-elect George W. Bush -- who has expressed mounting concern
over the economy's prospects as he prepares to take over the presidency
Jan. 20 -- welcomed the move as a much-needed dose of economic Viagra.
However, the move did not dent Bush's eagerness to see his $1.3
trillion tax cut package pushed through Congress.
It was the first rate cut between regular FOMC meetings since the
autumn of 1998, when a global economic crisis threatened to seize
up world financial markets.
The Fed's announcement sent the Dow Jones industrial average up
almost 3 percent by the close, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq
composite index surged more than 14 percent, its biggest daily gain
ever. Skyrocketing stocks took the shine off government bonds, whose
prices tumbled. The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies.
"These actions were taken in light of
further weakening of sales and production, and in the context of
lower consumer confidence, tight conditions in some segments of
financial markets, and high energy prices sapping household and
business purchasing power," the central bank said in a statement.
"Moreover, inflation pressures remain contained. Nonetheless, to
date there is little evidence to suggest that longer-term advances
in technology and associated gains in productivity are abating,"
it added.
But the Fed said that even with Wednesday's moves, it still saw
the risks in the economy as weighted toward economic weakness --
clearly signaling that more rate cuts may come soon, possibly at
the FOMC meeting scheduled for Jan. 30-31.
"They'll do more if they need to ensure that the economy doesn't
go into a tailspin," said Dana
Johnson, senior managing director and head of research at Banc One
Capital Markets Inc. in Chicago. "They're absolutely committed to
doing everything they know how to do to prevent a hard landing."
The Fed's willingness to cut rates fast is a sharp reversal from
its campaign of aggressive rate rises between June 1999 and May
last year, when it raised short-term credit costs six times to keep
a lid on prices as the economy soared.
The Fed's emergency move came as Bush was meeting with more than
30 business executives and chief executives about the state of the
economy in a hotel in Austin, Texas.
"I am pleased the Fed has cut the interest rates. I think the cut
was needed," Bush told reporters. "It was a strong statement that
measures must be taken to make sure our economy does not go into
a tailspin."
摘要：
美联储在关键时刻突然公布了调低利率的消息，这无疑等于是在危急关头挽救了美国股市，尤其是纳斯达克。然而降息的背后还有些什么呢？为什么要在这个时候降息，而不能等到月底的美联储大会上呢？也许这篇文章能让你有所了解。
生词：
electrify [v] 使充电，使通电
looming [n] 上现蜃景
hastily [adv] 急速地，匆忙地，草率地
discount rate [n] 贴现率
in light of 按照，根据
tailspin [n] 旋尾降落 |
(转自英文锁定) | |
(2001/01/18,09:09) |
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