2008-01-22 Fed Makes Emergency 0.75 percent Rate Cut

2008-01-22 \US economy\global economy\US Federal Reserve http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/business/worldbusiness/23cnd-asiastox.html Fed Makes Emergency 0.75% Rate Cut &ldquo;The Federal Reserve, responding to an international stock sell-off and the likelihood of a sharp drop in America on Tuesday morning, cut its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point. ... The Japanese stock market dropped 5.7 percent, for the worst two-day loss in 17 years, while the Australian stock market tumbled 7.1 percent, its worst single-day loss in nearly two decades. The Shanghai market lost 7.2 percent while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong plummeted 8.7 percent. .. â€œAt this stage, you can say there is panic selling in the market,â€ said Kwong Man Bun, the chief operating officer of KGI Asia Ltd., a large Asian futures broker. â€œWe donâ€™t think the Hang Seng index has found its bottom yet; the index will continue to go down and will only find its bottom when external markets â€” namely, the U.S. market â€” stabilize.â€&rdquo;   