Fed Officials Point the Need for Another Stimulus, Stocks Fall

Stocks plummeted to an eight-week low after Federal Reserve officials' warnings on the need for more stimulus to lift the country's economy.

The U.S. economy has been widely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which brought a recession.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said that the central bank believed additional financial assistance would be needed to boost the economy.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell believed the same sentiments.

Powell warned on Tuesday in congressional testimony that a U.S. recovery from the pandemic remains highly uncertain.

Powell said that the recovery would go faster if there is support coming from Congress and the Fed.

Governor Randal Quarles and regional chiefs Charles Evans, Loretta Mester, and Eric Rosengren also stressed the need for more fiscal support.

These officials' warning came after Congress ended its talks for a bipartisan spending bill and instead focused on replacing Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Reports said that Congress's chances passing another legislation for a stimulus package have gotten slimmer as both parties focus on filling the Supreme Court vacancy.

Ginsburg's death has caused another political fight over when U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee, which is yet to be named, would come up for a vote.

Washington has become since then consumed by the Republican-led Senate's desire to approve Trump's pick quickly.

Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said that the prospects of passing a second stimulus bill have gotten increasingly difficult.

It has become another blow to investors who observe the uprise of cases in the United States.

Traders are becoming wary about the strength of the economic recovery.

"Markets are digesting and grappling with this idea that the growth expectations that investors have might not materialize," Lauren Goodwin, economist and multi-asset portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments, was quoted in a report.

Goodwin added that as the U.S.'s fiscal impulse starts to wane, some of these expectations for a slow and steady recovery are shaken.

Second Stimulus Package

Many Americans have been hoping that Congress would pass a deal after many of the benefits it approved ran out.

An extra $600 weekly unemployment benefit expired in July, a loan forgiveness program for small businesses also dried up, and Americans have not seen another stimulus check.

Both parties have pointed the need for government relief to help Americans combat the effects of the pandemic.

However, Republicans and Democrats have not budged from their positions, causing a prolonged impasse.

The fight for a new Supreme Court justice has, even more, tightened the tensions.

Earlier this month, GOP proposed a second stimulus bill.

The GOP-backed stimulus bill failed to advance as the relief package fell short of the 60 votes needed to move forward.

All Democrats and one Republican opposed the said legislation.

The measure included reinstating enhanced unemployment insurance, but at $300 per week from the previous $600.

It also included the authorization of new small business loans.

However, Democrats called it inadequate as it did not include state and local government relief and food assistance.

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