CNBC Economy

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is holding a brief news conference following the surprise rate cut on Tuesday.

"We reaffirm our commitment to use all appropriate policy tools to achieve strong, sustainable growth and safeguard against downside risks," the G-7 statement said.

The G-7 will voice their determination to fight the economic hit of the coronavirus but stop short of directly calling for new government spending or coordinated central bank interest rate cuts, two G-7 officials said on Tuesday.

Global financial ministers and central bankers will hold a conference call on Tuesday to coordinate the financial and economic response to the coronavirus.

As short-term rates keep going lower, there's a chance they could go all the way to near zero where they were during the financial crisis.

With fears over a global slowdown intensifying, the Fed likely will announce a 50 basis point cut at its March meeting, if not sooner, the firm said.

Financial markets and the White House are demanding interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve that may not work and may not even be necessary.

Manufacturing activity in the U.S. grew at a slower-than-expected pace last month as the coronavirus outbreak dampened sentiment.

"More cases are showing up in the U.S. and seem likely to be just the start," Ed Hyman said. "Scope, severity, and duration are uncertain."

Trump increased pressure on the Fed to cut, tweeting Monday that the U.S. central bank is falling behind its global peers.

The Fed should now focus on a vigilant oversight of the banking system it supervises and regulates, Dr. Michael Ivanovitch writes.

Mortgage rates just fell to an 8-year low, but they are not falling as fast as Treasury yields, because of the swiftness of the declines and the resulting risk to investors in mortgage-backed bonds.

Goldman Sachs said it sees three rate cuts from the Federal Reserve from March through June.

"The foundation of war is economics," Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said at the Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

Markets are anticipating the Fed will cut rates four times this year amid a scare that the virus would cause a sharp slowdown in global growth.

Warsh spoke a day after he called for the Fed to cut interest rates in response to the outbreak.

Americans pulled back on their spending in January, even as their incomes surged, a sign the economy was growing modestly before the threat of coronavirus arose.

Goldman Sachs revised its earnings estimate for the year to $165 per share, representing 0% growth in 2020.

GDP is projected to slow to 2.8% for 2020, which BofA Global Research said would be the first sub-3% reading since the Great Recession.