Philadelphia Fed cuts discount rate to 0.5 pct

WASHINGTON, Dec 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Thursday it approved the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's action to cut the discount rate by three quarters of a percentage point, making it the ninth Fed bank to do so since Tuesday.

Eventually, all 12 regional Fed banks are expected to cut their discount rates to 0.5 percent, in line with a Fed rate cut on Tuesday that also saw the benchmark federal funds rate slashed to a record low range of zero to 0.25 percent.

The discount rate is the rate at which banks can borrow directly from a Federal Reserve bank. (Reporting by David Lawder; editing by Gary Crosse)