Fed announces massive stimulus to shield economy from coronavirus

The Federal Reserve on Sunday announced it is slashing interest rates to zero and buying hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds, as part of a sweeping emergency effort to breathe life into an economy bracing for the fallout from the coronavirus.

The central bank - moving up its policy-setting meetings scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in a show of urgency - said it expects to keep rates at zero "until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events."

The stunning move by the Fed comes as financial markets have whipsawed wildly over the past few weeks, with panicky investors looking to the federal government for a robust response to the growing global pandemic. It also follows a new barrage of attacks by President Donald Trump on Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not heeding his calls for lower rates.