The United States has enjoyed historically low unemployment rates in recent years, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned 
Republican senators on Tuesday that this situation is likely to crash and burn if a proper stimulus package is not passed. He predicted unemployment rates of up to 20 percent if no action is taken but expressed optimism that this worst-case scenario won’t happen because some form of stimulus should be forthcoming. U.S. President Donald Trump has requested a bailout of some $850 billion to $1 trillion dollars. Sources have told the news outlet CNBC that some of the measures could include direct payments to Americans.
Wall Street benchmarks closed broadly higher on Tuesday after a day of carnage on Monday, but futures point to another day of bloodshed on Wednesday. On Tuesday the S&P 500 closed up 6 percent, the Nasdaq ended up 6.23 percent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 5.20 percent higher. European markets are also poised for a lower open despite the announcement of new stimulus measures.
The gains did little to inspire confidence in Asia, where all major benchmarks traded lower on Wednesday. Australia’s ASX 200 saw the steepest losses, down 6.43 percent as of 2:42 p.m. HK/SIN. South Korea’s Kospi was down 4.25 percent even as the country reported the fourth consecutive day of new coronavirus cases under 100. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index eased 2.96 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.68 percent.
On the currency markets, the dollar edged downward after soaring in the past few trading sessions. The losses came as traders saw that the Fed’s measures were easing some of the funding squeeze, but losses were tempered on continuing fears about the economic impacts of the novel coronavirus. The greenback eased against the yen, falling 0.613 percent to 107.01. It also edged lower against the pound and the euro, which gained 0.37 percent and 0.09 percent against the dollar respectively. The U.S. dollar did manage to eke out some gains against the Canadian and Australian dollars, but this was not enough to bring the dollar index into positive territory for the session.