An extraordinary $2 trillion injection into the short-term lending market announced by the Federal Reserve on March 12 didn’t help the U.S. stock markets quell concern about the economic slowdown stemming from the coronavirus, leading to a 10 percent drop and the worst day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1987.
After plunging by more than 8 percent at the opening, markets sharply but briefly pared the losses to 3 percent in response to the New York Federal Reserve’s announcement of plans to offer a $500 billion short term bank-funding operation on March 12, to be followed by two $500 billion offerings on March 13.
