The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a full percentage point and launched a package of programmes in an unscheduled move on Sunday evening, to help address problems on Wall Street that have emerged in the aftermath of Covid-19, the infectious disease that has infected nearly 160,000 people globally and claimed nearly 6,000 lives.

The Fed cited the pandemic as the reason for a $700bn quantitative easing programme, indicating that “the coronavirus outbreak has harmed communities and disrupted economic activity in many countries, including the US.”