Investors were greeted with a sea of red on their trading screens this morning as a glum-sounding US Federal Reserve unnerved stock markets. Last night the Fed laid it on thick with how the US economy, the world’s largest, is still a hostage to the virus, which is “posing considerable risks” to the recovery across the Pond. So far during the pandemic US policymakers have adopted a “whatever it takes” approach to propping up the economy. The financial juice that has been pumped in has supported asset prices and contributed to US stocks’ record-breaking run but there was no such sweetener for investors in its latest report. The Fed said that new stimulus measures were “not warranted in the current environment”.

Source: The Times August 20, 2020 11:03 UTC