Wall Street plunged on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve decided to lower a key interest rate by a quarter point, a reduction that disappointed investors hoping for a bolder half point cut. The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 300 points in the hours after the Fed made its announcement. The quarter point cut, which brings the benchmark federal funds rate to 4.25 percent, was supported by all but one member of the Fed board. The cut was widely expected, though there was some debate over how large it would be. The lone opponent of Tuesday's cut, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren, had supported the more aggressive half point cut that many on Wall Street appeared to be hoping for. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 294.26, or 2.14 percent, to 13,432.77 after dropping as much as 313.12. Broader indexes also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 38.31, or 2.53 percent, to 1,477.65, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 66.60, or 2.45 percent, to 2,652.35. The Russell 2000 fell 24.93 to close at 766.27, while the New York Stock Exchange composite closed down by 266.16 at 9,838.26. The American Stock Exchange composite dropped 54.47 to end the trading day at 2,372.37. The price of a barrel of light, sweet crude oil for January delivery rose $2.16 to $90.02.
