Wall Street plunges as Federal Reserve fails to allay coronavirus worries

More states under lockdown raise fears of hit to economy

Wall Street slipped on Monday as the still rapidly spreading coronavirus forced more US states into lockdown, eclipsing optimism from an unprecedented round of policy easing by the Federal Reserve.

After cutting interest rates to near zero and offering to purchase more Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities last week, the central bank now decided to lend against student loans and credit card loans as well as buy bonds of larger employers.

The unprecedented moves briefly lifted the US stock index futures more than 3%, but the mounting death toll from Covid-19 and growing evidence of the economic damage to Corporate America quickly