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Fed Slashes Benchmark Rate

Larger-than-anticipated drop drives stocks up, dollar down

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 18, 2007 2:05 PM CDT

(Newser) – The Federal Reserve aggressively cut its benchmark rate today, dropping the federal funds rate a half-point to 4.75%. The larger-than-expected cut was “intended to help forestall” the ballooning credit crisis, the central bank said in a statement. The cut in the key interest rate, the first in 4 years, was double the quarter-point drop that had been widely expected, Bloomberg reports.

The federal funds rate had stood at 5.25% since June 2006. The cut matched a simultaneous 50-basis-point drop in the discount rate, which now stands at 5.25% after an unanticipated half-point cut on August 17. Stocks rose on the news within minutes of the announcement, Reuters reports, while the battered dollar fell further.

Traders in the Eurodollar Options pit on the floor the Chicago Mercantile Exchange react to the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate by a larger than expected half percentage point, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007 in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)
Traders in the Eurodollar Options pit on the floor the Chicago Mercantile Exchange react to the Federal Reserve cutting its benchmark interest rate by a larger than expected half percentage point, Tuesday,...   (Associated Press)
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, left, talks to Axel A. Weber, the President of the German Central Bank Bundesbank, during the annual Bundesbank Lecture on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007 in Berlin. (AP Photo/Miguel Villagran)
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, left, talks to Axel A. Weber, the President of the German Central Bank Bundesbank, during the annual Bundesbank Lecture on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007...   (Associated Press)
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, addresses the audience during the annual Bundesbank Lecture in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Miguel Villagran)
Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, addresses the audience during the annual Bundesbank Lecture in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Miguel Villagran)   (Associated Press)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, welcomes Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, for a meeting at her office at the chancellery in Berlin, on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. Seen in background is the German 'Reichstag' parliament building. (AP Photo/Bundesregierung, Guido Bergmann, Pool)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, welcomes Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, for a meeting at her office at the chancellery in Berlin, on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007. Seen in background...   (Associated Press)
A television screen in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rate decision of the Federal reserve, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate, Tuesday,  for the first time in four years, starting with an aggressive half-point move to...
A television screen in a booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows the rate decision of the Federal reserve, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2007. The Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate, Tuesday,...   (Associated Press)
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