Fed move lifts corporates but outlook still uncertain

The Federal Reserve woke the international debt markets from their new year slumber on Wednesday when the US central bank announced a 50bp cut in the Fed funds rate aimed at averting a hard landing for the US economy. Having changed its stance to a tightening bias in December, the Fed has reacted to growing evidence in the last month of 2000 of a sharp slowdown in the economy — evidence that had led most economists to predict a rate cut of 25bp-50bp this month.