Month: March 2020

The Federal Reserve took the emergency step of cutting the benchmark U.S. interest rate by half a percentage point, an attempt to limit the economic and financial fallout from the coronavirus. The Fed’s action reduced the U.S. interest rate to just below 1.25 percent, down from about 1.75 percent. Fed leaders voted unanimously in favor […]

FEBRUARY 29, 2020 China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to a record low of 35.7 in February from 50.0 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, well below the 50-point mark that separates monthly growth from contraction. The data foreshadows that the economic disruption from the virus will likely extend to […]