Rate futures surge as coronavirus seen pushing Fed to ease

[February 24, 2020]   (Reuters) - U.S. interest rates futures surged to their highest levels since last fall as a global sell-off in stocks and panicked buying of government bonds fueled growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will soon be forced to respond with interest rate cuts.

 The Federal Reserve seal is seen during Chairman Jerome Powell news conference following the two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on interest rate policy in Washington, U.S., January 29, 2020. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

The fed funds futures contract tied to the Fed's July policy meeting <FFN0> reflected a probability of more than 80% that the central bank's benchmark overnight lending rate would be at least a quarter percentage point lower after that meeting's conclusion. It currently stands at 1.50%-1.75% after three rate cuts last year.

The moves come as Italy, South Korea and Iran all reported sharp increases in the number of coronavirus infections.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Alex Richardson)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.