• EUR/USD  trades on a flat note around 1.1120 in Thursday’s early European session. 
• The Fed cut rates by 50bps in the September meeting, bringing the new policy rate target to 4.75-5.00%.
• Eurozone annual HICP steadies at 2.2% in August, as expected. 

The EUR/USD pair trades flat during the early European session on Thursday. The major pair initially edges higher to monthly highs of 1.1189 after a large rate cut by the Federal Reserve (Fed) at its September meeting and eases back to near 1.1120.  

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) started its easing cycle, lowering the Fed funds target range by 50 basis points (bps) to 4.75%-5.00% on Wednesday. However, the Fed's forward guidance didn't seem to be as dovish as expected, which help limit the US Dollar’s (USD) losses. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell stated that “it feels to me that neutral rate is probably significantly higher than it was pre-pandemic”. The median long-term interest rate shifted to 2.9% from 2.8%, with 7 participants now seeing the long-term rate at or above 3.25%. The median projection for unemployment by the end of 2024 was revised to 4.4% from the 4.0% projection in June. Powell reiterated at the press conference that employment markets have now properly normalised, and the additional slowdown is not welcomed by policymakers.