LONDON (AFX) - The euro rose in early afternoon trade amid rumours that the US Federal Reserve is calling an emergency meeting, dealers said. "We are hearing this rumour of an emergency Federal Reserve meeting," said Paul Mackel strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. "It is possible the Fed will meet, and if equities continue to decline it might jump in and cut rates," he said, adding that since the stock market turbulence is global, other central banks would have to follow suit. "The Fed will be pushed into cutting rates, and we believe it will cut rates anyway by 25 basis points in November, but a cut could arrive sooner," added Mackel. "A rate cut is need to stabilise equity markets," he added. In an unscheduled press conference in Brussels, European commission president Romano Prodi said that "unsettled financial markets" are currently a cause for concern. At 1.00 pm, the euro traded at 0.9919 against the dollar versus 0.9901 usd at noon, and at 0.6329 stg compared to 0.6319 stg at noon.