Claude Monet Sunflowers painting

Claude Monet Sunflowers painting
Johannes Vermeer Girl with a Pearl Earring painting
Financial markets surged within seconds of the Fed news, and U.S. President-elect George W. Bush -- who has expressed mounting concern over the economy's prospects as he prepares to take over the presidency Jan. 20 -- welcomed the move as a much-needed dose of economic Viagra. However, the move did not dent Bush's eagerness to see his $1.3 trillion tax cut package pushed through Congress. It was the first rate cut between regular FOMC meetings since the autumn of 1998, when a global economic crisis threatened to seize up world financial markets. The Fed's announcement sent the Dow Jones industrial average up almost 3 percent by the close, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index surged more than 14 percent, its biggest daily gain ever. Skyrocketing stocks took the shine off government bonds, whose prices tumbled. The U.S. dollar rose against major currencies.