Fed may react to market plunge and stalled economy

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A plunging stock market and a stalled U.S. economy may force the Federal Reserve to use the dwindling number of tools it has left in an effort to boost growth and keep the country from sliding back into recession.

At the very least, the central bank is expected to acknowledge all the adverse things that have occurred since its policymaking committee last met in June.

But many private economists say they believe that the situation has grown so dark in recent days that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues will be forced to do more.

On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average suffered its sixth-worst point drop in history, falling 634.76 points. That decline came after credit rating agency Standard & Poor's on Friday downgraded the United States' long-term debt because of what it saw as political gridlock that is preventing Washington from making meaningful cuts in the country's soaring budget deficits.