By
Bhushan Akolkar
April 17th, 2024
On Monday, the Dow Jones corrected another 3% falling 600 odd points and reaching close to 18,500 levels. Another bill passed by the U.S. lawmakers failed to get the Senate clearance. On the other hand, the Federal Reserve has announced a strong stimulus to support the ailing economy.
The carnage on Wall Street continues further on Monday, March 23, as Dow Jones corrected 3% falling 582 odd points. At Monday closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was trading at 16591 levels taking losses close to 40% from its all-time high.
Monday’s market response comes as the U.S. lawmakers have failed to push another fiscal stimulus to prevent any further blow to the economy. While the talks among the lawmakers are in progress, investors aren’t willing to wait longer.
Along with the Dow, other indices also showed correction. The S&P 500 slipped 3% while the Nasdaq Composite managed to hold its losses under 1%. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that they are working closely with the Congress to announce a fiscal package. Speaking to CNBC, Mnuchin said:
“We’re using some of the funds we have, but we need Congress to approve additional funds today so that we can move forward and support American workers and the American economy”.
However, the failure to get enough votes in the Senate has put some pressure on the market.
Federal Reserve Announces Historic Funding
On Monday, the U.S. central bank made some historic and bold announcements as part of its effort to support the falling economy. As part of its asset purchasing program, the Fed is working to get the economy back on track.
The Fed said that this program will run in the “amounts needed to support smooth market functioning and effective transmission of monetary policy to broader financial conditions and the economy.”
The historic decision by the Fed is that it will now directly be moving in corporate bonds. The Fed has decided that it will purchase some of the investment-grade securities through ETFs. The Coronavirus crisis and lockdown have severely impacted small and medium scale businesses leaving the markets in a liquidity crisis.
Besides, the Fed has also announced a $300 billion program “supporting the flow of credit” to employers consumers and all businesses. Speaking on these measures by the Fed, Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group, said:
“While the Fed’s actions are an enormous help, the only way the markets are going to find sustainable improvement is when the economy is allowed to come back to life, or at least there is a real path in place for how that is going to happen”.
Dow Jones Loses Points and Wipes Out All Gains During the Trump Administration
In the past, the Trump administration has been quite vocal about the stock market’s success during its tenure. President Donald Trump has also used this success as an endorsement of his economic policies.
But the COVID-19 global pandemic caused the markets to collapse heavily in a month’s time. Trading at its all-time high in mid-February, Dow Jones has collapsed 40% since then.
In the past, President Trump has assured that he will ease regulations on several of the nation’s largest companies. Besides, he has also promised to lower the corporate tax rate. Besides, the Fed has also called for aggressive measures in its recent statement.
“The coronavirus pandemic is causing tremendous hardship across the United States and around the world. Our nation’s first priority is to care for those afflicted and to limit the further spread of the virus. While great uncertainty remains, it has become clear that our economy will face severe disruptions. Aggressive efforts must be taken across the public and private sectors to limit the losses to jobs and incomes and to promote a swift recovery once the disruptions abate,” said the Fed.