Hong Kong’s monetary authority reduced its base lending rate by half a percentage point after the US Federal Reserve conducted an emergency cut for the first time since the global financial crisis to counter risks stoked by the global coronavirus outbreak. The Fed trimmed its key rate by 50 basis basis overnight, two weeks before its scheduled meeting on March 17 and 18, as Chairman Jerome Powell said he “saw a risk to the economy, and chose to act.” The move was the first inter-meeting rate action, as well as the biggest cut in a single fell swoop, since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings in 2008 roiled global ... (full story)