'Substantial majority' of Fed favoured large cut in Sept

Supporters of the half-point cut "observed that such a recalibration of the stance of monetary policy would begin to bring it into better alignment with recent indicators of inflation and the labour market", said the minutes of the September 17-18 session, at which the Fed lowered the benchmark policy rate to a range of 4.75% to 5.00% from the 5.25% to 5.50% range it had maintained since July of 2023. Others noted there had been a "plausible case" to have cut rates at the July meeting and the data since then had only buttressed the case for easier policy.