NEW YORK – Global stock markets have sunk again despite central banks around the world announcing a co-ordinated effort to ease the effects of the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones index closed 12.9 per cent down after President Donald Trump said the economy “may be” heading for recession.
London’s FTSE 100 ended four per cent lower, and other major European markets saw similar slides.
On Sunday, the US Federal Reserve cut interest raetes to almost zero and launched a $700bn stimulus programme.
It was part of co-ordinated action announced alongside the eurozone, the UK, Japan, Canada, and Switzerland.
However, investors are worried that central banks now have few options left to combat the impact of the pandemic.
The new governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, has pledged to take “prompt action again” when necessary to stop the damage to the economy from the coronavirus pandemic.
David Madden, a market analyst at CMC Markets, said that while central bankers were trying to calm the markets, “in reality it is having the opposite effect”.
“The radical measures have sent out a very worrying message to dealers, and that is why they are blindly dumping stocks.”
(BBC)
