FOMC: Fed keeps fed funds target rate...........>

FED: FOMC: Fed keeps fed funds target rate unchanged at the zero lower bound at

0.00% to 0.25, with no dissents (10-0). Forward guidance is unchanged. Statement

says the "Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident

that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its

maximum employment and price stability goals." Fed leaves IOER unchanged at

0.1%, and left the RRP unchanged at 0.00%. Statement says: "The ongoing public

health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment, and inflation

in the near term, and poses considerable risks to the economic outlook over the

medium term." Fed statement says coronavirus outbreak "is causing tremendous

human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world." The

"virus and the measures taken to protect public health are inducing sharp

declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses." The Fed says "[w]eaker

demand and significantly lower oil prices are holding down consumer price

inflation."