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Markets & Stocks
Wall St. surges on rate cut
January 3, 2001: 1:26 p.m. ET

Stocks catapult after central bank unexpectedly lowers the cost of borrowing
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. stocks surged Wednesday afternoon, recovering from earlier losses, after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates.

graphicThe surprise decision, which comes outside the central bank's regularly scheduled meeting, soothed a market worried about how much the slowing economy will cut into corporate profits.

Just before 1:25 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average gained 316.78 points, or more than 2 percent, to 10,954.80. The Nasdaq composite index jumped 112.17 points, or nearly 5 percent, to 2,402.46. The S&P 500 gained 34.79 to 1,318.16.

Concerned about the economy's weakness, the Fed cut the Federal Funds rate by a half percentage point to 6 percent and lowered the discount rate by a quarter percentage point. graphic




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